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- Judge Derek Pullan ruled not to dismiss Kent Cody Barlow's murder charges based on evidence his attorneys said should have been collected.
- The judge ruled portions of a 911 call should be removed before being played for a jury during the April trial.
- The judge also denied a motion from Barlow's attorneys asking to restrict how witnesses refer to the boys.
PROVO — A 4th District Judge made important decisions Thursday for the upcoming murder trial for Kent Cody Barlow — most importantly, ruling the case will not be dismissed.
Barlow, 28, is charged with two counts of murder, a first-degree felony, and possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor, and is scheduled for trial in April. He is accused of causing a crash that killed two 3-year-old boys, Odin Jeffrey Ratliff and Hunter Charlie Jackson, while they were playing at Cedar Valley Stables in Eagle Mountain on May 2, 2022.
Three others, who were in the car with Barlow at the time of the accident, testified during preliminary hearings that he was driving at a high rate of speed and ran a stop sign before the car hit a bump, sending it off the road and out of control.
The victims
Barlow's attorney, Justin Morrison, argued that age is irrelevant to the charges and said "deceased" and "decedent" would be sufficient for referring to the two 3-year-old victims during the trial. He said using the age would only appeal to the jury's emotions.
The judge, Derek Pullan, said prosecutors should be able to tell the story of what happened and use the boy's ages. He also said the jury would know they were 3 from multiple forms of evidence during the trial and denied the request from Morrison.
Pullan said he agrees with Morrison that the terms used for the 3-year-old boys should be accurate, discussing the term "babies" which was used in the 911 call. He said a family member might accurately use the term 'baby,' but an investigating officer should use "child" or "3-year-old" when referring to Hunter or Odin — saying references should match relationships.
The jury would be instructed about not making a decision based on sympathy, the judge said.
Not dismissed
Morrison argued certain evidence from the crime scene was not properly documented by prosecutors, specifically the critical curve or yaw mark and whether the children were visible from the road. He said the lack of preserving the evidence breached Barlow's rights to due process.
He argued that marks on the road could show attempts by Barlow to slow or brake and could be key evidence — as Barlow was tried for murder based on the depraved indifference statute, which takes into account his frame of mind.
"These are things that are essential and critical from the viewpoint of the defense," he said, arguing the case should be dismissed — citing a 2007 Utah appellate ruling in State v. Tiedemann.
The motion also argued that not having evidence to prove whether the children were visible from the road and what ultimately caused their injuries causes prejudice against Barlow, but not enough to lead to a dismissal.
Deputy Utah County attorney Ryan McBride said the critical curve marking was pencil thin, and slightly darker gray than the road and was very difficult to see. He said by the time people with expertise in crash scenes arrived, it was starting to get dark and they did not see it.
While it was light enough, McBride said the scene was chaotic, with multiple people needing medical attention, an ambulance and helicopter arriving to help with medical aid and families arriving for vaulting practice.
"Preservation of life takes precedence over collection of evidence," he said.
McBride argued that not finding these marks was not negligence by investigators, but a lack of perfection.
Pullan said the Tiedemann case only applies to situations where prosecutors had evidence in their possession and then gave it up. He said having the area blocked off does not constitute prosecutors having possession of the evidence about the location of the children or marks made by the car — the evidence would need to be collected.
Pullan denied the request to dismiss. He said Morrison could bring up the inadequacies in the investigation during the trial, addressing the credibility of the witnesses.
911 call
Barlow's attorneys had asked that the transcript of the 911 call made by a woman at Cedar Valley Stables not be played for the jury, arguing the audio would provoke an emotional response. He said the call is "incredibly emotional and invokes a strong reaction."
He said the emotional impact of the call would cause prejudice and any evidence in the call is available from other sources.
Michael Starrs, deputy Utah County attorney, argued the details in the 911 call give credibility to witnesses. He also said the call addressed the location of the children and supports that the scene the officers were responding to was chaotic — addressing the two concerns brought by the defense about the investigation in their request to dismiss the case.
The judge listened to the recording with the attorneys outside of the courtroom and came back saying some of the recording was troubling. He ultimately determined it could be played, but in an edited version that specifically takes out a scream and exclamation from the caller saying, "the babies are dead."
He said the scream was not directed at the 911 operator and showed the "deepest grief" of humanity.
