MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) — Lawyers for a man accused of killing six people and injuring dozens more when he allegedly drove his SUV through a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee, have asked a judge to suspend his trial to set.
Darrell Brooks Jr. is facing more than 80 charges related to the Waukesha incident in November 2021, including six murder charges. His trial begins on October 3 and lasts the entire month. But his attorneys, Anna Kees and Jeremy Perri, filed a motion Friday with Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow to push back the proceedings.
They claim it will take them at least six months to study more than 300 videos and footage of the parade, break down the speed of the SUV during the incident and review Brooks’ police interrogation. Prosecutors have also not yet turned over all of their evidence to the defense team, they claim. Dorow has scheduled a hearing on the request Monday afternoon.
“The scale of this case is uniquely large and complex given the number of allegations and the volume of discoveries,” Kees and Perri wrote in their motion. They added that “the inability or failure to give counsel sufficient time to properly prepare for the trial” could be an infringement of his constitutional rights.
The motion does not suggest a new start date. Prosecutors have said they would not be available in November or December, meaning any delay would mean a 2023 start date.
According to the indictment, Brooks drove his SUV into the parade on Nov. 21, hitting people and ignoring the police to stop. A possible motive remains unclear. Kees said during a hearing on Tuesday that the defense is considering all possible strategies, including a plea for insanity.
Kees and Perri have filed another motion to move the trial out of Waukesha County or bring in a jury from another county. They claim that the publicity surrounding the case has been so overwhelmingly negative that Brooks cannot get a fair trial in Waukesha.
Dorow and lawyers on both sides worked last week to prepare a questionnaire for potential jurors to gauge whether they have been biased by media coverage of the case. Dorow said during Tuesday’s hearing she can drop the questionnaire and decide whether to move the trial or bring in jurors from out of county during Monday’s proceedings.
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