Trial begins for man accused of causing crash that lost teen volleyball player her legs

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Trial is underway in St. Louis for the man accused in a downtown crash that caused 17-year-old volleyball player Janae Edmondson to lose her legs.

On February 18, 2023, police say Daniel Riley caused a crash that pinned Edmondson under a car. At the time, Edmondson was walking back to her hotel with her parents. The Tennessee teen was in town for a volleyball tournament.

The case made national headlines and sparked investigations into how former Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner ran her office, which led to Gardner’s eventual resignation.

The St. Louis Circuit courts summoned 425 people for jury duty on Friday, which a spokesman said is three times as many as they would in a typical case. The jury, along with four alternates, was officially picked on Monday.

“It’s important that they pull enough people from the community for this jury selection process, so that they can get 12 jurors to sit in the box who have not yet formed an opinion about the case,” explained legal expert Kristi Flint, who is a defense lawyer and former prosecutor. Flint spoke to First Alert 4 about what the jury selection process looks like,

“The whole entire process is to find 12 individuals who can promise to make their decision on whether or not Daniel Riley is guilty based on the facts that they hear in the courtroom. Not the facts that the news have reported or things that they’ve seen on social media,” Flint added.

First Alert 4 Investigates was in court Friday as the process of narrowing down potential jurors began and was there Monday right before the final jury was selected.

Judge Michael Noble used a questionnaire system, in part trying to gauge how much people knew about the case and Riley. Based on the questionnaires, some people were disqualified, while others were called in front of the judge for additional questioning.

First Alert 4 saw one juror get disqualified after they told the court Riley was on house arrest and not supposed to be driving.

Reporting by First Alert 4 Investigates in the days after the crash uncovered Riley didn’t have a driver’s license and he was out on bond in an armed robbery case. First Alert 4 Investigates found Riley violated his bond dozens of times.

“As a defense attorney, if I know that the jurors know that my client has had other charges pending, I don’t want those people on my jury,” Flint explained. “In this case, the publicity has made it more difficult for the defendant to have a fair trial, because I would imagine, you know, most people have made up their mind in this situation, whether or not he caused this, this injury.”

Flint says this questionnaire system isn’t often used but can be helpful when trying to pull from a large jury pool.

In a hearing last month, Riley’s defense lawyer, Daniel Diemer, tried to get the case moved out of St Louis, arguing he didn’t believe his client could get a fair trial. Judge Noble denied that request.

“The legal question will be, was he acting reckless when he did it? I think that’s where the crux of this case will be,” Flint added.

While cameras are not allowed in the courts during jury selection, cameras will be allowed for the trial.

First Alert 4 learned Janae Edmondson is expected to take the stand on the first day of trial.

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