Joshua Rivera

A judge affirmed the denial of a motion to strike or redact a report from an accident reconstruction expert hired by Butler County public defenders representing a man charged with striking and killing a 15-year-old boy while he was riding an electric bicycle in 2023.

At a hearing Wednesday, Oct. 28, in Butler County Common Pleas Court, Senior Judge James Arner denied a renewed motion from the district attorney’s office to strike or redact the defense expert’s report about the crash that killed Aiden Lutz on Oct. 19, 2023, while he was riding his e-bike on Dutchtown Road.

Joshua Rivera, 41, of Butler was charged with third-degree murder, homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death or injury, aggravated assault by vehicle and other charges in Lutz’ death. His trial is scheduled for Nov. 16 to 25, with jury selection Nov. 16 and 17.

At Wednesday’s hearing, public defender Joseph Smith said the judge originally assigned to the case, Senior Judge Christopher St. John, denied the same motion to strike or redact the expert’s report last year.

St. John recused himself from the case in August after assistant district attorney Ben Simon argued that St. John made a biased statement during an in-chamber meeting after an Aug. 4 hearing. He said St. John made a number of unsolicited statements, including that he did not view the case as third-degree murder and he did not believe the prosecution could prove third-degree murder.

St. John said he has been — and can continue to be — fair, impartial and unbiased. He said his comments wouldn’t impact his rulings and he has made no prejudgments. However, he agreed to recuse himself because he was concerned about the impact the claims of bias would have on the public perception of the judiciary.

Smith said Lutz’ death was the result of an accident. The accident reconstruction expert was retained because the district attorney’s office is pursuing a third-degree murder charge.

He said the expert studied the state police accident report and took measurements at the crash scene to prepare the report. The police report says Lutz “migrated” toward the middle of the road and veered left before he was struck, he said.

The evidence shows Lutz contributed to the accident that resulted in his death, Smith said.

In addition, he argued that the district attorney’s office did not appeal St. John’s decision against striking or redacting the defense expert’s report, and a previous decision should not be disturbed.

Simon said the defense expert’s report includes the defense’s contention that Lutz turned or “darted” into the path of the car Rivera was driving despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting that claim.

He said a witness will testify that the bike Lutz was riding moved toward the center of the road before he was struck. It should be up to the jury to decide if Lutz turned into Rivera’s path, he said.

Allowing the defense expert’s report to be used as evidence is a backhanded way of introducing Rivera’s version of the events without him testifying, Simon said.

Smith said it hasn’t been determined if Rivera will testify.

Simon argued that the defense will use the expert’s report to attack the credibility of the prosecution witness. It should be left to the jury to judge the credibility of the witness, he said.

Jury selection and the voir dire questioning of potential jurors also were debated Wednesday. Arner said there will be four alternate jurors in addition to the 12 charged with rendering a verdict.

Simon and Smith agreed that 50 to 75 potential jurors should be called for the first day of jury selection. Arner settled on 75. A court administration official said 170 potential jurors will be available for the second day.

Arner said voir dire questioning will be conducted individually with each potential juror.