Chris Soules’ motion to dismiss his felony charge lawsuit has been denied, Us Weekly can confirm.
The Iowa Supreme Court has declined to hear the former ABC star’s appeal to drop the charges for leaving the scene of a fatal accident before it comes to trial, according to documents obtained by Us.
The Bachelor season 19 lead, 36, came under fire in April 2017 when the truck he was driving in Aurora, Iowa, rear-ended a tractor being driven by local man Kenny Mosher. Mosher was transported to a local hospital and later died of injuries he sustained in the crash.
Soules filed an appeal to the court on February 6, asking them to review the merit of the charges against him, affirming that he did not leave the scene of the incident until several minutes after calling 911 and speaking with emergency responders who “assured they had the situation in hand,” the Des Moines Register reported at the time.
The Dancing With the Stars alum’s lawyers argued that Iowa law does not require drivers to wait for authorities in the case of a fatal accident, but per KCRG, prosecutors say it does. In January, a district judge refused to dismiss the charges filed against Soules, which meant he could face up to five years behind bars.
The Register noted that the Bachelorette contestant’s lawyers urged the court to review all facts of the case before a potential trial, given that Soules’ standing as a “public figure” could make an “unnecessary trial even more damaging.”
“If Mr. Soules is forced to proceed to trial and then appeal, there would be no way to undo the publicity and restore Mr. Soules to his original position,” his legal team argued, according to documents previously obtained by the Register. “Addressing this questionable and fundamentally unfair charge, given these facts, prior to trial, better serves the interest of justice.”
Soules’ attorneys have also revealed new information about the night of the accident, citing a sealed testimony claiming that the reality star was driving his pickup truck below the 55-mph speed limit at the time of the crash.
The filing also stated that Soules gave Mosher CPR and told emergency dispatcher “that Mr. Mosher had blood coming out of his mouth and, after performing chest compressions, found a pulse.” Soules then stopped CPR and none of the other four people who arrived at the scene “nearly immediately” restarted CPR. The documents also state that Soules remained on the phone with the dispatcher for more than five minutes and waited to direct first responders to the injured man.
The farmer entered a not guilty plea to the charge against him in May 2017. “His attorneys are confident that once all the evidence is made public, it will show Soules acted responsibly and did everything in his power to provide aid to Mr. Mosher,” his team said in a statement to Us at the time.
