Arapahoe County – Prosecutors on Monday likened the Jeep that Jason Reynolds was driving to a fatal bullet fired from a gun.
Reynolds, 32, of Parker is accused of driving past a Toyota 4Runner on E-470, pulling in front of the sport utility vehicle and hitting his brakes. The driver of the 4Runner, Kelvin Norman, swerved to avoid the Jeep and crashed into oncoming traffic, killing himself and another driver, authorities said.
Reynolds is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of vehicular homicide. Defense attorneys H. Michael Steinberg and Phil Cherner argued Monday that the murder counts are out of line.
“It would set a new precedent not only in charging the case but excessively charging the case,” Steinberg told District Judge Marilyn Leonard during a preliminary hearing.
“We’re not here to say Mr. Reynolds is the poster boy for good driving,” Steinberg said. “But he did not act with malice.”
Prosecutors took the unusual measure of filing first-degree murder charges based on the belief that Reynolds acted with “extreme indifference” the day of the Nov. 8 collision.
Also killed in the crash was Greg Boss, 35, of Lone Tree.
William Kinzey, the only witness prosecutors have found, said Reynolds’ Jeep approached the 4Runner from behind. Traffic was moving about 70 to 75 mph, and Reynolds pulled within 10 feet and flashed his headlights. Norman didn’t immediately get over, Kinzey said.
Kinzey stopped watching the pair for a brief moment, and when he looked back, the Jeep was in front of the 4Runner in the right lane. Then, the 4Runner swerved in a defensive maneuver to keep from hitting the Jeep’s rear end, Kinzey said.
Kinzey could not recall seeing the Jeep’s brake lights flash, he said.
After the crash, Reynolds told investigators that he accidentally hit the brakes after “swooping” in front of the 4Runner when he went to shift from fourth gear into fifth gear.
But according to a technician for the Colorado State Patrol, Reynolds previously used a similar “road rage” tactic.
Kelly Pickering, a member of the accident reconstruction team, told the court about several driving incidents involving Reynolds over the past couple of years, including at least two cases in which he allegedly swerved in front of drivers and slammed on the brakes.
In one incident, Pickering said, Reynolds’ vehicle was hit.
Pickering said that when the driver got out of his car and asked Reynolds why he abruptly stopped, Reynolds said: “It doesn’t matter. You are the (expletive) who is going to get the ticket because you ran into me.”
Deputy District Attorney Karen Pearson said Reynolds acted with “callous disregard for human life” in the way he drove in the past and on the day of the fatal crash.
“In this case, the defendant’s car is the deadly weapon,” Pearson said. “His driving of the car is the firing of the gun.”
Leonard is scheduled to rule Wednesday on whether the case goes forward as charged.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
