What’s next for Britt Reid now that April trial date is set?

Britt Reid and his attorney appeared for a scheduling conference on Thursday morning to set a trial for charges stemming from drunk driving charges.

Reid, the former K.C. Chiefs assistant coach and son of head coach Andy Reid, is charged with a felony driving under the influence that seriously injured two children on February 4, 2021. As you may recall, Reid was allegedly driving 83 miles per hour when he struck two cars on the side of an entrance ramp. Reid allegedly told officers that he had been drinking.

When Reid was taken to the hospital, his groin injury required immediate surgery. Blood tests revealed a blood alcohol content of .113 approximately two hours after the crash. Police officers allege that Reid’s eyes were red and bloodshot.

Looking at what’s next for Britt Reid and his April trial date.

One of the children injured in the crash was in a coma for 11 days with swelling and bleeding in her brain. When she was finally released from the hospital in April of this year, she was unable to walk or talk and was being fed from a tube.

Now, Reid’s case is making its way through the legal system.

With the COVID pandemic and the court’s backlog of cases, Reid’s case had moved slowly. However, now that courts are becoming more adept at handling remote proceedings, we have some progress.

On Wednesday’s scheduling conference, held virtually, the judge entered deadlines and set the trial date of April 18, 2022. The trial appears to have been scheduled for one week (although it is unlikely to take that long). The judge has also noted that the jury will be selected from a pool of approximately 70.

The trial is taking place in Jackson County which means that the jury pool will consist of residents of Jackson County. They will be required to fill out questionnaires before the trial that will detail their connections to law enforcement, their employment, marital status, and other basic information. If they are part of the jury pool, they will then appear on Monday of that trial week for jury selection.

Jury selection consists of something called “voir dire.” This is a chance for both attorneys to determine if there are any biases that would result in a juror being too prejudiced to be able to offer a fair trial. They are able to ask about your views on certain issues and request that jurors be released from service if their questioning demonstrates a juror cannot be unbiased. Ultimately, the pool is narrowed to 12 with an additional alternate or two.

Following jury selection, the court will permit opening statements. Then the prosecution will present their case followed by Reid’s attorneys. In criminal cases, the burden is on the prosecution to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. If they do so, then a guilty charge will be handed down by the jury. If not, he will be acquitted.

Between now and the trial, there will certainly continue to be negotiations and a plea deal might be reached and if the parties request it, the trial date could be moved if additional time is needed and the parties show good cause. However, as is always the case with these negotiations, we will not hear about then until (and if) a plea deal is reached.

Until then, we will wait and continue to hope that the injured children continue to heal and that justice is served.