Johnthony Walker, a 25-year-old bus driver charged with killing six children, cursed out his student passengers and sped off in front of administrators on a handful of occasions, three witnesses said Monday in Hamilton County Criminal Court.
Most of that testimony is already in the public domain, but prosecutors want jurors from Clarksville, Tenn., to hear some of it during Walker’s vehicular homicide trial scheduled for Feb. 27.
They say it shows a pattern of dangerous behavior that resulted in the Nov. 21, 2016, crash on Talley Road that killed six of the 37 Woodmore Elementary School children onboard.
But to get the testimony into evidence, prosecutors must convince Criminal Court Judge Don Poole that it’s helpful to their case but not overly harmful to Walker’s constitutional rights. The judge has taken it into advisement and will release an order soon.
But standing in their way is Walker’s defense attorney, who said Monday that any mention of Walker’s prior misconduct is an emotional play on jurors that distracts from the real issue.