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Judge considers request to throw out evidence in trial over fatal street-racing crash

The Toyota Scion driven by Joshua Jacob Jones, 33, of Ocala, is seen in this Oct. 12, 2021, photograph provided by the Ocala Police Department. Lawyers for Jones, who is facing an upcoming trial on a felony vehicular homicide charge, are asking a judge to block prosecutors from using data extracted from the car, which showed it was traveling 98 mph in a 45 mph speed limit just moments before the crash. (Ocala Police Department/WUFT News)
The Toyota Scion driven by Joshua Jacob Jones, 33, of Ocala, is seen in this Oct. 12, 2021, photograph provided by the Ocala Police Department. Lawyers for Jones, who is facing an upcoming trial on a felony vehicular homicide charge, are asking a judge to block prosecutors from using data extracted from the car, which showed it was traveling 98 mph in a 45 mph speed limit just moments before the crash. (Ocala Police Department/WUFT News)

A judge in Ocala is considering a request to throw out evidence in an upcoming trial involving two men accused of street racing at nearly 100 mph when they struck a family’s SUV, killing its driver.

Lawyers for one of the men told the judge that police obtained permission from their client in the hospital to extract data from his crashed car when the man was still sedated on pain medication and unable to read the document an officer asked him to sign. The data showed the car was traveling 98 mph in a 45 mph speed limit just before the crash, police said.

The lawyers, Jacob V. Stuart of Orlando and Kali Brianne Stauss Lourenco of Ocala, cited details of the hospital room encounter recorded on the officers’ body cameras. They are representing Joshua Jacob Jones, 33, of Ocala, who is charged with vehicular homicide. Prosecutors dropped charges of reckless driving and street racing against both drivers in the case.

As one officer explained the request to sign the permission form, he held the document and said, “I know you can’t see, so I’m going to try to put the line. Here’s the pen. All right. So, right here is the line where I put my finger, can you see my fingers?”

Jones was sedated on medication and recovering from a broken femur and wrist, court records said. He was lying on his back in the hospital bed, his lawyers said.

Circuit Judge Robert W. Hodges ruled last week that he will consider the request to throw out the evidence. Jones’ trial is expected to begin in February.

Jones and another driver, Maurico Humberto Medina, 55, also of Ocala, were speeding close to 100 mph in a heavily trafficked area one evening in October 2021 when they swerved through highway lanes before spinning and crashing into a family’s red Hyundai SUV pulling out of a Red Lobster restaurant, police said.

Munir Shrouf, 56, was killed in the wreck. His wife and adult daughter, who were also in the vehicle with him, were injured in the crash, police said.

The trial for Medina, the other driver, is expected to begin next month. Medina also is charged with vehicular homicide.

The latest twist in Jones’ case involves detailed information that can be pulled from a vehicle’s electronic data recorder, similar to a black box on commercial airliners. These recorders capture information about speed, acceleration, steering and braking inputs and more.

Jones’ lawyers said police investigating the crash didn’t seek a warrant from a judge to obtain the data from the silver Toyota Scion in the crash, asking Jones instead in what they described as his compromised condition for permission to extract the data. The wrecked Scion was at a police impound lot.

Police said the Florida Highway Patrol obtained a warrant months after the crash to extract the data from Medina’s wrecked car.

Jones’ lawyers told the judge the officers knew Jones was on pain medication because one of the officers in the hospital room said, “You’ve got the pain meds and stuff in there.” They said police never notified Jones of his rights or explained that they were investigating the crash as a criminal matter.

“Defendant was hospitalized, heavily sedated and recovering from multiple injuries, including fractured feet and other broken bones,” according to their court motion. “Defendant’s physical incapacity, combined with the effects of strong medication, rendered him unable to exercise free will or fully understand the significance of the document he was being asked to sign.”

The lawyers asked the judge to ban use of the car’s data at trial and any police testimony based on the data.

It wasn’t clear how damaging it would be for prosecutors to lose the data as trial evidence. Police separately obtained video of the crash from a nearby surveillance video camera. At least one witness told police that Jones and Medina were driving fast down a state highway when Jones cut in front of Medina’s Honda Civic when they collided and started to spin. The vehicle data from Medina’s car also could be cited at Jones’ trial.

Police said Jones’ car crashed into the family’s SUV as Medina’s car ran into the back of Jones’ car. The accident report cited “an extensive amount of damage consistent with a high-speed impact.”

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This is a breaking news story. Check back for further developments. Contact WUFT News by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org

Sophia is a reporter for WUFT News who can be reached by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org.