CLARK COUNTY — The attorney for the driver of a minivan involved in a deadly school bus crash in Clark County is looking to have his case moved out of the county.
An attorney for Hermanio Joseph, 35, of Springfield, filed a motion Thursday to change venue, according to Clark County Common Pleas Court records.
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The request was made “in order to ensure [Joseph] receives a fair trial before a jury untainted by pre-trial publicity,” court records stated. His attorney argued that the “ongoing pre-trial publicity and media saturation” would make it “impossible to seat an impartial jury” in Clark County.
As News Center 7 previously reported, Joseph was charged with vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter on Aug. 29. The charges stem from the deadly crash involving a van and a Northwestern Local Schools bus on Aug. 22.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Joseph was driving a Honda Odyssey that crossed left of center on state Route 41 (Troy Road), near Lawrenceville Road, and hit the bus.
The bus, driven by 68-year-old Alfred Gene Collier, also of Springfield, then traveled off the right side of the roadway, down an embankment, and overturned.
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Aiden Clark, 11, was killed in the crash.
As many as 26 other children on the bus suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to area hospitals. One of them suffered serious, life-threatening injuries and was taken to Children’s Hospital in Dayton. Collier suffered minor injuries but was not taken to a hospital.
A judge still has to issue a ruling on the request to change the venue. Typically, a decision on this kind of motion would not be made until jury selection begins.
We’ll provide updates when the judge makes the ruling.
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