PROVO, Utah — The trial of a man accused of hitting and killing two children with his car in Eagle Mountain has been delayed, with no new trial date set.
According to the minutes of a status hearing held Friday, the judge granted the defense's motion to delay the jury trial for Kent Cody Barlow, 28, which was originally set for September 16.
This comes after a series of motions filed by the defense that escalated to the Utah Supreme Court.
In a Notice of Ethical Conflict of Interest filed Monday, Barlow's defense team argued that that a number of events effectively threatened Barlow's constitutional right to effective counsel.
The chain of events began in August, when Benjamin Aldana, Barlow's court-appointed defense attorney, filed a motion to withdraw from the case, citing the recent death of his father to cancer. According to Monday's filing, the presiding judge, Robert Lund, denied that withdrawal on August 26.
The defense further argued that the September 16 date of the trial did not give them adequate time to prepare, citing a number of outstanding pre-trial issues that were still needing to be addressed.
"As a consequence of Mr. Aldana’s personal circumstances and the Court’s unrelenting scheduling orders in this case, Mr. Barlow’s defense team will not be properly prepared for trial on September 16, 2024," Aldana writes. "And due to the Court’s refusal to acknowledge that simple fact, the Court has created an ethical conflict of interest between Mr. Barlow’s defense team and Mr. Barlow."
One week prior to Monday's filing, the defense submitted a petition to the Utah Supreme Court, asking the court to reverse the denial and allow Aldana to withdraw, arguing Lund "abused his discretion" when deciding Aldana was mentally competent to remain Barlow's attorney.
Barlow faces two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Hunter Jackson and Odin Ratliff back in May 2022, after police say he crashed his car through a fence and into a corral where the two three-year-old boys were playing.
At time of reporting, a new trial date has not been set.
