WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — A former Warren police officer accused of killing two men in a crash last year will have to wait longer to learn if he'll stand trial.
James Burke faces manslaughter charges after a collision that killed two men while he was responding to a call about a stolen car.
The preliminary examination has been put on hold for nearly a month because a defense witness is unavailable.
Burke was driving without lights or sirens when he crashed into a white Dodge Durango on Schoenherr Road near Prospect Avenue in September. The collision killed Cedric Hayden and Dejuan Pettis.
Family members of the victims broke into tears when Macomb County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Cory Newman played video of the crash in court.
Watch our report from earlier this week when new video was released and James Burke was in court below:
Newman argued Burke's driving speed was the primary factor in the crash during questioning of a Macomb County Sheriff’s Office crash reconstruction expert, Joe Bosek. Burke traveled the length of nearly three football fields in a matter of seconds.
"Five seconds before the crash, he's traveling 168.4 feet per second?" Newman asked.
“Yes,” Bosek testified.
Burke's defense attorney Marc Curtis argued the deceased driver was at least partially at fault, making an improper left turn onto Prospect and was under the influence.
"Is there a difference between observing a vehicle at nighttime when it is approaching as opposed to observing it during the daytime?" Curtis asked Bosek, who responded, "Yes."
"Does that cause an issue with somebody being able to determine distance in regards to it being night?" Curtis continued, with Bosek confirming, "Yes."
"And if that person had been drinking, would that affect it?” Curtis asked, with Bosek responding, “Yes.”
“Would it cause their reaction time to be slower?” Curtis continued. “Yes,” Bosek replied.
The families of Hayden and Pettis are pursuing lawsuits against the city of Warren and its police department. Jim Harrington from the Feiger Law firm is representing them.
Watch our November 2024 report about lawsuits the families filed below:
“The one thing that is absolutely undeniable that can’t be denied by anything that we saw on the video is that the amount of time the officers had to make an adjustment, to make reduced speeds, to do something to avoid this crash, by them traveling literally four time the speed limit going about 117 miles an hour, maybe 114 miles an hour at the time of impact, there was nothing that these gentlemen could have done to avoid this crash,” Harrington said.
A Macomb County Sheriff's Office detective testified he too would have left lights and sirens off until catching up with the vehicle he was pursuing.
The preliminary exam is set to continue July 30. Burke remains free on a personal bond.
