He’s accused in a deadly hit-and-run. His car has no damage. Will a judge dismiss the case?
Less than half an hour after he got home shortly after midnight on May 18, 2022, Bryan Robert found himself answering questions from police about his involvement in a fatal car accident in Fort Lauderdale.
A 911 caller identified Robert’s Chevrolet Traverse as the vehicle that struck and killed Ernson Jean, 52, a homeless man who was drunk and either lying or sitting on Sunrise Boulevard at 12:15 a.m.
That 911 call, according to court records, is some of the strongest evidence the state has that Robert left the scene of a fatal accident, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. His lawyer, Robert Buschel, argued in court Wednesday that the phone call not nearly enough to convict his client, and he’s asking Broward Circuit Judge Edward Merrigan to dismiss the case.
Investigators found no evidence on Robert’s Traverse that it was involved in an accident. There was no front-end damage, no damage to his tires, no blood stains, nothing that specifcally ties Robert to the scene of the accident. Prosecutors concede as much in their written response to Robert’s motion to dismiss.
The eyewitness testimony is compelling. The woman who called 911 said she witnessed the accident and took a video of the vehicle as it drove away. Her phone call came right after the accident and gave police what they needed to identify the suspect vehicle.
But the witness also said she did not want to be involved, and investigators have not located her. Buschel hinted that he would challenge the admissibility of her phone call.
Prosecutors will need to account for the evidence investigators thought they would find but didn’t, said Buschel. But Assistant State Attorney Ross Weiner told Merrigan that he can’t grant the motion to dismiss as long as key facts are in dispute.
The value of the 911 call is in dispute.
Merrigan did not say when he would rule.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.