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PROVO — Fourth District Judge Robert Lund denied another request to delay the murder trial for Kent Cody Barlow, a man accused of causing a crash that led to the deaths of two toddlers playing in a corral in Eagle Mountain.
This time, defense attorneys filed a motion to delay the September trial because Barlow's lead attorney, Benjamin Aldana, is on leave due to his father's health.
Prosecutors agreed to the motion as a "professional courtesy." Deputy Utah County attorney Ryan McBride said it would be the worst case scenario for an attorney to have a parent die right before or during a trial. He said prosecutors' position that the trial should move forward hasn't changed, but it has "temper(ed)."
Lisa Estrada, an attorney who stood in for Aldana at Tuesday's hearing, said the case is "extremely complex" with 922 documents filed, two separate preliminary hearings, 27 witnesses and more. She said Aldana is the only one who has communicated with the experts and he is crucial to the defense team's trial preparation.
McBride said, in his view, the case is "a simple homicide case." He said there is no question over identity, and witnesses do not have contradicting testimony.
Before denying the request to delay the trial, Lund talked about the difficult process it would be to reschedule the trial — for the many witnesses already planning on the trial and in a court that has hearings and trials scheduled through the end of the year.
"The parties know this case inside and out; they're very well prepared to try this case as scheduled," Lund said.
He said the mothers of the two 3-year-old victims, Odin Jeffrey Ratliff and Hunter Charlie Jackson, had submitted comments to the court about the request to delay the trial. Lund said Barlow has a right to the case resolving in a speedy way, even if he has waived it, and the families of the victims and the public also have that right.
He said mother Theresa Ratliff expressed compassion for Aldana but also cited multiple delays in the court leading to her still coming to hearings more than two years after her son's death.
Brooke Jackson said in her statement that she lost her mother to cancer last year, but it's easier to bury a parent than to bury a child.
Lund said he had expressed "sincere sympathies" to Aldana when the issue was brought up. However, he said this is the third time the trial has been set, and there has been a year's notice for the trial. He said as a judge for the last four years, he has spent "exponentially" more time on this case than any other.
The judge also said it would be impossible to set another trial date with him since his term ends in December.
"I've presided over this case since its inception. I have ruled on the numerous issues that have come before the court regarding legal issues, discovery issues — I know this case. And that historical knowledge is necessary to effectively preside over this case," he said.
Lund said the motion failed to convince him that Barlow's attorneys would be ineffective, noting that the preliminary hearing was extensive and had many of the same witnesses as the trial, and the transcript for that is available. He also said it is still seven weeks before the first witness will be called.
Estrada, however, said all of the work done on the case by Aldana would "need to be recreated" since he will be on leave for the next eight weeks.
"I believe that the prejudice is to Mr. Barlow by not having counsel that is competent and prepared to go forward," she said.
Lund said if Aldana is unable to help, and if Estrada cannot replace him with someone from their firm, he orders the Utah County Public Defenders to appoint another attorney as counsel for the case. He previously said a case scheduled for a murder trial should be a top priority.
The judge denied a request from Aldana to delay the trial in June, after Aldana argued that he would not have time to prepare for the trial.
Barlow's trial is still scheduled to move forward beginning with jury selection on Sept. 16, although Estrada expressed an intent to file an appeal of the decision to keep the trial on that date.
Odin and Hunter were playing in a horse corral on May 2, 2022, and were killed when a car police say was driven by Barlow left the road and veered into Cedar Valley Stables. Three others who were in the car with Barlow testified that he was driving at a high rate of speed and ran a stop sign before the car hit a bump that sent it off the road and out of control.
He was initially charged with two counts of manslaughter for the deaths of Odin and Hunter, but prosecutors amended the charges and he was ordered earlier this year to stand trial for two counts of murder, a first-degree felony, and one count of possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor.
