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Request to change trial venue for man accused of drunk driving, killing Smith County deputy remains undecided after hours-long hearing

Daniel Nyabuto, 21, of Grand Prairie, is charged with intoxication manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

TYLER, Texas — EDITOR'S NOTE: The attached video is from August 2022.

The request to change trial venue for a Dallas-area man accused of striking and killing Smith County Deputy Lorenzo Bustos while driving intoxicated last July remains up in the air following a lengthy hearing Wednesday.

Daniel Nyabuto, 21, of Grand Prairie, is charged with intoxication manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with Bustos' death when he was struck by a vehicle in the late hours of July 28 on State Highway 155 S.

His trial remains set for May 1, according to judicial records. 

On Monday, defense attorney Matt Bingham explained he put in the change of venue motion because of "pervasive pre-trial coverage." His request seeks to move the trial to Cherokee County.

During a roughly five hour hearing Wednesday, 7th District Court Judge Kerry Russell listened to both the state and defense regarding issues with the state's documents opposing the venue change. 

Bingham called the state's affidavits deficient and unreadable. He objected to those affidavits because the documents lacked proper signatures and are wholly inefficient.

Bingham mentioned several portions of the submitted affidavits having missing information and issues that cause the document to not make sense. He said it lacks stamps and notary signatures that are required of an affidavit.

Smith County Assistant District Attorney Richard Vance said the affidavits had a computer error that jumbled the information up. Vance then presented the correct affidavits to Russell. 

Following the discussion, Russell tabled the venue matter and the attorneys discussed evidence issues until breaking for lunch. 

The defense said getting the Texas Department of Public Safety crash reconstruction report has held up the trial process. Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Chad Martin was called to the stand to explain the process of the report. 

Martin said the request from the Smith County District Attorney's Office for an accident reconstruction was made no later than the middle of August. 

Martin said all the possible information is collected related to a crash, such as video, witness statements, cell phone records and the original crash report. How long the reconstruction takes can depend on what type of evidence troopers are collecting and how long those items take to come in.

The accident reconstruction report for the wreck involving Nyabuto and Bustos just came in Tuesday. He said it's the largest crash reconstruction report he's seen in his career as far as paperwork.

Martin estimated that Smith County First Assistant District Attorney Chris Gatewood had call him about 15 times regarding the wreck reconstruction.

Bingham said from the beginning, it was a foregone conclusion that Nyabuto would be in jail for a lengthy time because he was indicted in October 2022 at a time when prosecutors had to wait on the crash reconstruction that would take nine months to a year.

Bingham also suggested Nyabuto is entitled to a bond reduction because of how long he has been in jail. Russell said a bond reduction request would need to be filed. 

At the end of the hearing, Russell said he hopes the venue issue will be resolved by May 1.

Bingham later asked Russell if media be removed from the courtroom for pre-trial and trial proceedings. 

In response, Russell said an order of that nature has typically been overturned because of the Constitution, but a request to specifically not allow cameras and just notetaking could be made and considered. 

BACKGROUND

Bustos, 29, was on patrol with another deputy in the later hours of July 28 in the 14000 block of State Highway 155 S. and had performed a traffic stop with emergency lights activated on the patrol unit, the Smith County Sheriff's Office said. 

Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said the deputies had two people in the vehicle in handcuffs and put them in the back seat of the unit.

At approximately 12:15 a.m. on July 29, the other deputy, Michael Skinner, called emergency services saying that Bustos had been hit by a different vehicle.

The sheriff's office said Bustos was flown to a Tyler hospital, where he died in the ICU around 6 a.m. 

Nyabuto, who officials identified as the driver of the vehicle that struck the deputies, was arrested and booked into the Smith County Jail initially on an intoxicated assault charge.

He was then transferred to the Gregg County Jail, where he currently remains jailed. Nyabuto's passenger, who has not been identified, was charged with public intoxication.

According to an arrest affidavit, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper said Nyabuto did not know where his destination was or where he came from. Nyabuto swayed while he was standing. 

The trooper wrote in the affidavit that lost his mental and physical faculties and was intoxicated. 

Bustos was in his last day of the "ghost phase," which is a part of SCSO training. He had been with the SCSO for about five months, Smith said. Skinner was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released.

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