A judge had dismissed the charge of failure to remain at the site of a fatal accident against the accused in a 2016 crash. The crash resulted in the death of Jacob Brand, 21, of Kimball Township. The charge dismissed by the judge is a five-year felony in Michigan.

The accused in the case is Joshua Rickel, 24, of Kimball Township. The accident concerns the death of Brand who died on April 30, 2016 due to blunt force trauma. At the time of the accident, the police failed to determine who caused the death and how was it caused. Subsequent investigations released that the death may have been caused by a hit from a car. Police had many suspects in the wake of the incident and arrested Rickel two years later.

Rickel was previously charged with 15 years for failure to stop at the scene of fatal crash. However, the defense argued to have the charge dismissed as Brand was wearing dark-colored clothes at the time and was under the influence of alcohol, walking in the middle of the street. The same judge that has dismissed the five-year felony charge now had dismissed the 15-year charge in February this year.

Defense for Rickel says that nearly 20 witnesses are ready to testify to their client’s innocence. Police have been unable to connect Rickel directly with the crash so far. The forensics from Rickel’s vehicle and other circumstantial evidence provides an inconclusive and unclear picture of the fatal crash that took Brand’s life.

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