Truck driver in fatal Chi-Hi crash to stand trial Dec. 11
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By JEFFREY HAGE jeff.hage@lee.net
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 11:34 AM CST
EAU CLAIRE - Trial dates were set Tuesday for a Indiana man accused of killing five people associated with the Chippewa Falls High School Marching Band as the result of a Oct. 16, 2005 crash on Interstate 94 near Osseo.
Eau Claire County Circuit Judge William Gabler set a trial for Michael Kozlowski, 23, of Schereville, Ind., to begin December 11. Eau Claire County District Attorney Rich White said the trial is scheduled for December 11 through December 22.
Gabler set November 1-15 for status conferences and any motion hearings, White said.
Kozlowski is charged with five counts of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle, and 28 counts of reckless driving that caused great bodily harm or reckless driving that caused injury in connection with an Oct. 16, 2005 accident in which a Chippewa Trails bus slammed into Kozlowski’s overturned semi on Interstate 94 near Osseo.
Kozlowski faces a maximum nearly 90 years in prison if convicted of all the felony counts.
The trial will begin nearly 14 months after the accident. Defense attorney Earl Gray of St. Paul, Minn. said last month at Kozlowski’s preliminary hearing that he had some big federal cases this fall that he needed cleared from his schedule before a trial regarding the bus crash could be heard.
In a related matter, it was announced Tuesday that Gray and Kozlowski will attempt to move the trial from Eau Claire County. A change of venue hearing is set for May 15 in Gabler’s court. If granted, two things could happen: The entire trial could move to another county within Wisconsin, or an out-of-area jury could be imported to Eau Claire for the two-week trial.
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