Attorney for Chris Soules asks judge to dismiss fatal crash case

INDEPENDENCE - Reality television personality Chris Soules sat quietly in a Buchanan County courtroom on Monday, looking down with his hands folded as he listened to the 911 call he made following the April crash that killed Kenneth Mosher, 66, of Aurora.

In the recording, Soules can be heard telling the dispatcher that he can't tell if Mosher is breathing, and the dispatcher offers to talk him through administering CPR.

The 911 recording was played Monday as Soules' defense team asked District Court Judge Andrea Dryer to throw out a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

Authorities have said Soules, 35 - who gained acclaim as a star on ABC's 'The Bachelor” in 2015 and also on 'Dancing with the Stars” - was driving a vehicle that collided with Mosher's tractor on Slater Avenue north of Aurora and that Soules left before law enforcement arrived on the scene.

Defense attorney Robert Montgomery said Soules shouldn't be charged because he did what was required by law following the collision.

'Chris Soules did the morally responsible thing here,” Montgomery said. 'Chris Soules did the legally responsible and legally required thing. After this unfortunate accident ... Chris Soules did everything he could for the victim ... Mr. Mosher,”

Montgomery said Soules called 911, identified himself, provided aid and remained until medics arrived.

Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown argued the law requires drivers to remain at the scene and allows only two reasons a driver can leave a fatal crash - to seek help or to report the emergency to law enforcement.

'Our position is that ‘remain at the scene' infers that the person shall remain until those two things happen - rescuers arrive to assist that person who is injured and law enforcement authorities arrive. Mr. Soules did not wait for the police,” Brown said.

Brown said Soules remained on the scene for only about 14 minutes, leaving before a Buchanan County sheriff's deputy arrived and while other witnesses were still there.

'I would submit that people who have a fender bender are at a crash scene longer than Mr. Soules,” Brown said, adding there is an expectation that information about a fatal crash is collected to the best of law enforcement's ability, and police can't do that if one of the drivers involved leaves.

'Mr. Soules leaving the scene leaves many ambiguities as to why and how the crash occurred. That's why we have this statute. That's why he should have remained at the scene,” Brown said.

Montgomery also argued that Iowa's leaving the scene statute - which was rewritten in the 1970s before the advent of cellphones - is vague and is unconstitutional as it applies to Soules' right to move about.

'No citizen is required to stay even longer, after complying with the requirements of the statute ... after doing all those, which Chris Soules did. No citizen is required to remain even longer just so police can get a preferred peek at them,” Montgomery said.

Judge Dryer will rule on the matter at a later date.

Soules' trial is set to begin on Jan. 18.

He has pleaded not guilty to the felony charge, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

The Arlington native was arrested April 25 at his home after the April 24 crash near Aurora.

Authorities said Soules was driving south on County Road W45 around 8:20 p.m. when he rear-ended a tractor driven by Mosher, who died at Mercy Hospital in Oelwein.

According to court documents, 'empty and partially consumed open alcoholic beverages” were found in and around Soules' truck when first responders arrived on the scene. Soules was seen purchasing alcohol before the crash, as well, according to court documents. However, Soules' defense team has said two separate urine and blood samples were tested by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Criminalistics Laboratory and were negative for drugs or alcohol.

Earlier this month, Soules' attorneys filed their motion to have the case dismissed. In that motion, they detailed efforts Soules made to revive Mosher be administering CPR.

'Four other individuals were on the scene with Mr. Soules nearly immediately, but Mr. Soules nevertheless took it upon himself to try to revive Mr. Mosher. Tellingly, after blood began coming from Mr. Mosher's mouth and Mr. Soules stopped CPR, none of the other four individuals on the scene restarted CPR,” defense attorney Gina Messamer wrote in the motion.

One person was kneeling next to Mosher and could have resumed CPR, and three others were nearby, according to the defense.

'The fact that these bystanders did not restart CPR indicates they did not believe it would have been beneficial to Mr. Mosher. Their unanimous inaction confirms it was reasonable for Chris not to continue CPR,” Messamer wrote.

Authorities said after leaving the crash scene, Soules returned home and refused to exit his home until authorities had obtained a search warrant. Soules was not taken into custody for several hours after the crash.

In other developments on Monday, Dryer modified the conditions of release, removing the requirement for electronic GPS monitoring. The defense had asked that the monitoring no longer be required, and the state didn't resist the request.