A judge says there's enough evidence to take an attempted murder case to trial. Wednesday, preliminary hearings continued for the man charged with trying to kill a PG&E worker. The defense says there's more to this story than what meets the eye.
The man charged with the attempted murder of a valley PG&E worker will soon stand trial, but Jett McBride's defense attorney says there might be someone else at fault here. She's pointing the finger at a key witness.
Deborah Girard says, "In the preliminary hearing we didn't hear Mr. McBride's statements to the detectives and that statement includes the fact that Kai grabbed his arm and grabbed the wheel of this vehicle and that caused the vehicle to veer into Mr. Neely. That's going to come out more at trial."
The man known as "Kai the Hitchhiker" delivered wild and unforgettable testimony Thursday. The now viral superstar was in the car with McBride when it plowed into a group of PG&E workers February first.
Caleb "Kai" McGillivary said McBride steered right toward the crowd in broad daylight. He said there's no way McBride could not have seen the men.
Deborah Girard is questioning Kai's credibility. She calls his colorful character deceiving.
"It's not the surfer cool dude that everybody sees on YouTube and Jimmy Kimmel. This guy is very intelligent and very manipulative," says Girard.
The preliminary hearing wrapped up, but not before another victim in this bizarre crash took the stand.
"He was saying that I'm Jesus and I'm here to take you home," says witness Kenneth Simon.
McBride is accused of trying to kill Ray Shawn Neely. Neely is now in a wheelchair with a broken leg. Kenneth Simon was also hurt in the crash. He watched the car barrel toward him and his co-workers. He says it was clear McBride's hands were on the wheel, and the man had no intention of stopping.
Simon said, "He was looking directly at us, arms straight, not turning or anything."
McBride is charged with attempted murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. He is scheduled to be back in court March 8th. A trial date should be set at that time.
McBride is being held on a $1.1 million bail.
TXT 24
Twitter
Facebook