A trial for the Juneau man facing murder charges after a fatal car crash last summer is now slated for March.
Juneau Superior Court Judge Louis Menendez on Thursday scheduled a 10-day trial to begin on March 12 for Ryan West.
Originally slated for December, the trial had been pushed back as the discovery and motion filing process continued.
West, 25, was involved in a single-vehicle crash near Mile 32 of Glacier Highway on June 6, 2011, that resulted in the death of 19-year-old Gabriel Carte. He was indicted by a grand jury in August on one count of second-degree murder, an unclassified felony.
Juneau Police Department officers who responded to the scene originally determined alcohol and speed to be factors in the case.
Prosecutors allege West was the driving the pickup truck at the time of the crash, while the defense maintains he was not.
West’s lawyer David Seid argued in recent court documents there is no evidence his client’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit of 0.08, and his client should have never been charged with murder. Seid cited previous Alaska case law stating that charge should be reserved only in instances of “extreme intoxication with egregious driving conduct.”
District Attorney Dave Brower, in a motion filed Wednesday of this week, countered the case is not about extreme intoxication. Rather, Brower said it’s about whether West knowingly engaged in conduct that resulted in Carte’s death and showed extreme indifference to the value of human life, as stated in the indictment.
“In this case, the defendant’s conduct was apparently not clouded by an excessive amount of alcohol in his system, which is to say his actions bordered on intentional conduct,” Brower wrote in opposition of Seid’s motion to dismiss West’s indictment. Brower added it was “the very bad driving here” that resulted in the death of Carte.
A pretrial hearing will be held in court March 1.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (46)
Add commentMurder?
I seriously doubt this is murder. Murder has to be premeditated with an intended victim, doesn't it?
Even prior case history quoted above is iffy.
This is likely reckless homicide. As such, his lawyer may be able to get him off.
But it's still sad.
He's probably suffered
He's probably suffered enough, living with what happened. He already has a life sentence as far as that goes. It's tragic for all involved.
First...
First they have to prove he was driving. From all I've read, nobody knows for certain who was behind the wheel.
Yes just let him go.....I'm sure he learned
his lesson after his other offences.....NOT
Suffered?
Don't you have to have a conscious to suffer because of your actions?
I think this man's history shows he doesn't learn and quite possibly is lacking a conscious.
Several kids would say he helped get the alcohol that was at the party to begin with. I don't know if that's part of the charges or will even be brought up but in my mind it shows me and this town he hasn't learned and his choices that night led to Gabe's death. Kids have said he was driving yes? He is saying at some point he LET Gabe drive... Well even if that's true he should have known better.
This man is a idiot and a danger to society he needs to be locked away at least long enough for he to maybe get some sense knocked into him (removed for the sensitive wanna hold a criminals hand type)
Yes, because a prison beating
Yes, because a prison beating solves everything, doesn't it Ak_Mom.
I sincerely hope you don't beat your kids.
Jo
Murder doesnt have to be premeditated. reckless homicide is also murder. But I agree that a murder charge isnt warranted here. At the most its manslaughter. It sounds like an over zealous district attorney, possibly miffed that the defendant claims he wasnt driving.
Agreed, Persnickety
I also find it sick that someone (AK_Mom) would suggest that Mr. West should have some "sense knocked into him" via a prison beating. If you're going to bring up the matter of having a conscious, please don't follow up by promoting physical harm. Anybody with any sense knows that this is not the way to promote rehabilitation, and chances are that sense wasn't beat into them in the first place.
He killed someone
his reckless actions seriously hurt one person and later killed another. Maybe he needs some sense knocked into him.
I don't beat my kids but they are KIDS... West is a grown man who thinks it's ok to hurt people. Maybe being on the receiving end would do him some good.
Our society is a mess, guns and drugs, child abuse and perverts. Look at our paper these days!! The system is failing miserably and the innocent are the ones suffering. Maybe some old fashion justice would work better than this hand holding rocking the baby crap for these criminals.
PP just like you to make some stupid comparison to parenting. West and those like him lately are adults not children. It's to late for the "time out" approach.
Murder?
So he gets charged with murder and the guy who injected heroin into a 14 year old girl and kills her gets charged with manslaughter?
I'm with AK_Mom
Charge him with it already. His history lead up to this, there is no more second chances for this dude. West is another ticking time bomb to our society.
Just another "nice guy" gone alcoholic/junkie. You do the crime, you do the time. I don't know why the justice system in Alaska doesn't get that?!? Enough with the slap on the hand, the criminals here in Alaska have it too easy.
He intended for this to happen as soon as he handed over the keys to Gabe in his condition. Suck up the truth already people and stop defending a criminal. He gets what he deserves.
@Ak_Mom: crime has steadily
@Ak_Mom: crime has steadily fallen for the last 20 years. Maybe the problem is that you've only read the newspaper, which gets business by attracting viewers with sensational headlines. Step outside your box for a moment and justify your thoughts, actions, and opinions with facts, not hyperbole.
Whether or not Ryan West is guilty, he's still a human being. People who tell themselves otherwise are perhaps less than human themselves.
Keeping emotions out of this,
Keeping emotions out of this, and staying to a strictly legal standpoint, I would love to see the prosecutors prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that one he was driving, and two he was over the legal limit.
As sad as this whole situation is, it would be even sadder if the jury forgot what their duty is and convicted him without the state reaching its burden of proof.
Crime has definitely dropped.
Crime has definitely dropped. Get over yourself. You're not the center of the world, and your experiences don't represent everyone else's. Your statement "no matter what" shows that you've already formed your opinion prior to seeing any facts, so I'm going to ask you why I should believe anything you say given this complete lack of integrity.
Here's an idea: if you don't really know much about the legal system, don't form opinions about it.
PP:
Do you have a firm study/hard facts that what you say is true? And please don't steer us to some news site.. As you most commonly accuse others of doing.
Sure, Milspec. It's not like
Sure, Milspec. It's not like I haven't posted this same exact thing multiple times before, leading me to believe you people are either serial liars or incapable of learning. Perhaps you're amnesiacs, in which case I don't know why you're posting online at all unless you've also forgotten your dignity.
http://www.bjs.gov/content/glance/viort.cfm
Huh:
What the heck are you even talking about?
ends on 2009....
Humor me can you find one that goes through 2011 now?
aww PP your funny...
Where was the human debate in your posts about infants and Consciousness?
I am not on the jury I can be as emotional as I want.
Get over MYSELF?........ I speak my opinions, my feelings your the one who acts like you know all the laws and facts about everything. You attack everyone and make sure you always disagree and think you always right.
My only opinion on the legal system is its failing and I seriously doubt I am alone in that opinion. Obviously you think it's ok to give them cable, better health care than working folks, you think it's ok after they destroy other lives they get to live free healthy ones. That's your opinion, I think it's time we start making jail a place people don't want to go and scare the crap out of them. But again it's my opinion - God I love the US and the right to have an opinion.
2010 is the latest I can
2010 is the latest I can find. Crime rates fell. 2011 just ended, so I doubt those statistics have been compiled yet.
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/may/crimes_052311/crime_052311
And oneofwe, please go back to school. Reduced crime doesn't mean no crime. Believe it or not, there are grey areas in between extremes. You occupy one of them yourself! You have an incredible inability to understand statistics and apparently disbelieve anything that doesn't confirm what you already assume to be true, but you're not completely ignorant because you can type sentences and use the internet.
And for the record, I do often leave my house and car unlocked (on accident, because I'm forgetful, not because I'm so trusting), and guess how many breakins I've had? None. Not ever. When I was a kid in the 80's and early 90's both my parents had their vehicles broken into, though. Just goes to show that your personal experiences don't mean jack [filtered word] in terms of geographic trends.
@Ak_Mom: just because you
@Ak_Mom: just because you have a right to do something doesn't mean you should. And you should not have an opinion unless you know what you're talking about, just as you should not climb a mountain unless you're physically fit.
Jail a nice place to go? Everyone here who would like to go to jail please raise their hands. And if some people would rather go to jail than live their lives, gee, says something about our society, doesn't it? Or if inmates have better healthcare than regular people. Of course your solution is to just make the inmates' lives worse, not everyone else's better.
oh and...........
sorry it's too much to post but here you go....plus if anyone looks hard enough one can find statistics to support their opinion.
As much we we could debate national rates I really am only worried about Juneau right now.
http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Juneau-Alaska.html
this goes through 2010
What happened?
Um, what happened to the "no personal attacks" rule on the posting board?
Looks like several of us might need to step away from the keyboard and take a timeout.
wasn't there...
recently a guy who robbed a bank just to go to jail? and it's been on the news nation wide about that kind of behavior. Admittedly to get health care.
And how to you propose we make everyone's better while we keep piling money into the jails and supporting inmates. I work for my money I don't want it going into feeding and medically treating criminals... sue me Where is the funds going to come from?
You have all the answers why don't you run for office and fix it all for us please?
As much fun as this is... I am done for the day... Until the next debate PP... You have a good day
@oneofwe: I think I'm done
@oneofwe: I think I'm done with you. You don't accept anything that doesn't already confirm what you believe to be true. You have no proof there's a government conspiracy to cover up crime rates (through three administrations, now!), and it's frankly ridiculous. If this is your idea of critical thinking, I know some moon-landing and 9/11 conspiracy theorists you could get together with.
And Ak_Mom: the data in that link isn't sourced. The data below is sourced from FBI statistics, showing Juneau to be safer than Alaska as a whole in every category except burglary (which makes sense, because burglaries are less common in rural areas), and safer than the nation in everything but assault and rape.
http://www.clrsearch.com/Juneau_Demographics/AK/Crime-Rate
This was really bothering me...
"Conscious" is not the same as "conscience". Conscious is being awake and aware. Conscience is that little voice inside your head. Just for future reference. Those words that sound like they're spelled the same are really a pain. Like to, too, and two.
How tiresome...
Anyhoo, a murder charge isn't going to stick, and unless I'm not privy to some info, the best they could do would be negligent homicide. Ryan's an extremely messed up young man, and personally I think he was driving and I think he was over the limit. My thoughts, and proof beyond a reasonable doubt, are two different things. This may be a futher tragedy, because I think some serious jail time just might have enough impact upon Ryan to stir up the desire to genuinely change. If he walks away free due to bad prosecution, it will make things worse for him and the community.
Some of the commenters here simply get too emotionally invested in their comments, many of which, are irresponsible. To imply violence against the perp in prison, for example, is enough to consider AK Mom's comment irrelevant and inappropriate. C'mon Man!
AK_Mom Sucks @ Life
I don't know why I continue to annoy myself reading crap that this self righteous b____ writes..? But I'd simply like 'her' to know that she has been trying to refer to Mr. West's conscience, not conscious. There is no use trying to educate her or a few others in anything else, but maybe there will be that one lesson learned today?!
And I will climb down from my high horse or ivory tower now.
@ pp
what you said to oneofwe you could turn that around and it fits you to a tee!!
In the end
When all said and done. He will be out of jail in a couple of years at the most. You see alot of these trouble makers in Juneau who have caused alot of problems with serious crimes. A few months later you see these people waiting for the bus at the Costco intersection. Wait and see, by this time next year. He will be one those waiting for the bus there also.