Manatee commissioner's pretrial hearing on DUI charge postponed

Jeffrey Haynes, the attorney for Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse, was granted a postponement of the Oct. 11 pretrial conference concerning the State Attorney's charge of driving under the influence against Kruse.

On June 22, the State Attorney's Office filed one count of driving under the influence against Kruse involving an April 20 one-car crash on GreyHawk Boulevard in East County. Kruse has entered a plea of not guilty.

Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Erika Quartermaine rescheduled the pretrial conference to 9:15 a.m. Nov. 8. Quartermaine said she was targeting January or February for the start of a trial. She said she would schedule a trial date during the Nov. 8 pretrial conference.

The case has been pushed back multiple times. Jacqueline Steele, the 12th Judicial Circuit Court judge originally assigned to the case, recused herself on July 14. Previous postponements moved the pretrial conference from Aug. 2 to Aug. 16, and then Aug. 16 to Oct. 11.

Haynes requested the latest continuance, stating the case involved a large amount of discovery for a first-offense DUI charge and that he had not yet had a chance to review all evidence.

Haynes said he plans to visit the office of prosecutor Darlene Ragoonanan, to compare evidence and ensure his material is complete.

He said it was difficult to view videos through the portal the court system was using to share them. He said he had one video left to view and would watch it at Ragonnanan’s office, although he did not believe it would contain any evidentiary value.