Chris Soules still facing five years in jail for crash

Chris Soules is still facing felony charges after his fatal road accident last year. 

The Iowa Supreme Court has denied an appeal filed by the Iowa farmer-turned-reality television celebrity charged with leaving the scene of a crash, after he rear-ended a tractor-driving neighbor in his pick-up truck last April, killing him. 

Last month, the 36-year-old lost a legal battle in the felony case against him when a judge dismissed his constitutional challenge to an Iowa law requiring the surviving driver in a fatal accident to remain at the scene until police arrive.

Soules appealed; but on Friday the high court denied his request to hear the appeal, according to USA Today.

Rejected: Chris Soules has lost his legal battle to have the felony case against him dismissed after his fatal road accident last year (pictured November 27)

While the Bachelor star reported the accident, identified himself, waited for paramedics and even administered CPR himself, he left the scene before police arrived — which is against the law in Iowa, and Iowa alone.

Soules’ attorneys say he vigorously disagrees with the judge’s ruling and will ask the state’s highest court, Iowa Supreme Court, to review it. 

Soules, who became known as ‘Prince Farming’ during his 2015 appearance on ‘The Bachelor’ and also appeared on ‘The Bachelorette’ and ‘Dancing With The Stars,’now faces trial on January 18. 

Soules rear-ended a farm tractor driven by Kenneth Mosher on a rural northern Iowa road just after sunset on April 24. Mosher died soon after at a hospital.

Crash: The Iowa farmer-turned-reality television star is fighting to avoid prison after driving his pickup into the back of a tractor and killing a neighbor in April

Crash: The Iowa farmer-turned-reality television star is fighting to avoid prison after driving his pickup into the back of a tractor and killing a neighbor in April

He was arrested at 1:16 the next morning at his home near Arlington, 12 miles northeast of the accident scene. Sheriff’s reports indicate he declined to let officers into his house until after they obtained a search warrant.

He was charged with failure to remain at the scene of a fatal accident, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

His attorneys claim Iowa’s law violates the constitutional rights of citizens to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and to avoid self-incrimination.

Trouble: Soules, who became known as 'Prince Farming' during his 2015 appearance on 'The Bachelor' and also appeared on 'The Bachelorette' and 'Dancing With The Stars,'now faces trial on January 18

Trouble: Soules, who became known as ‘Prince Farming’ during his 2015 appearance on ‘The Bachelor’ and also appeared on ‘The Bachelorette’ and ‘Dancing With The Stars,’now faces trial on January 18

The law in question says, in part, ‘a surviving driver shall promptly report the accident to law enforcement authorities, and shall immediately return to the scene of the accident or inform the law enforcement authorities where the surviving driver can be located.’

Most states consider it a felony to leave the scene of an accident in which someone is injured or dies, but Iowa’s law differs in that it has been interpreted to require the surviving driver to be present when law officers arrive.

‘No other state has a comparable requirement,’ Soules’ attorneys said in court documents.

A driver forced to meet face-to-face with police is exposed to interrogation and observation by officers and risk self-incrimination, his attorneys argued.

State prosecutors contend the purpose of the law is to prevent drivers from evading liability for driving recklessly, driving while drunk or driving with a suspended or revoked license.

Victim: Soules performed CPR on Kenneth Mosher (seen with family) after April's accident. Soules' lawyers said it was 'reasonable' for him to stop after blood came from Mosher's mouth

Victim: Soules performed CPR on Kenneth Mosher (seen with family) after April’s accident. Soules’ lawyers said it was ‘reasonable’ for him to stop after blood came from Mosher’s mouth

‘The state submits the legislature foresaw that drunk drivers could flee the scene of a fatal crash precisely because they wanted to escape and sober up before confronting law enforcement officers who may detect telltale signs of intoxication,’ prosecutors said in court documents.

Initial court documents Buchanan County Attorney Shawn Harden filed in May said Soules was seen purchasing alcohol at a convenience store shortly before the accident. They allege he attempted ‘to obfuscate the immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the accident, including a determination of his level of intoxication and an explanation of the empty and partially consumed open alcoholic beverages located in and around his vehicle …’

Had Soules been tested at the scene or soon after and found to have been legally drunk, a much more serious charge such as vehicular homicide could have been brought. It carries a prison sentence of as much as 25 years.

Soules, 36, pleaded guilty to drunken driving in 2005 and was sentenced to one year of probation and a 60-day suspended jail sentence. In 2001, when he was 19, he twice pleaded guilty to underage possession of alcohol and also was fined for having an open container in a car.

The ruling Friday by Judge Andrea Dryer says Iowa’s requirement to remain at the scene is not a seizure under the state or federal constitutions and it does not require the driver to divulge anything to police that would violate rights against self-incrimination.

Soules became a television reality show celebrity after appearing on the ABC network’s ‘The Bachelorette’ in 2014 and played the starring role in the network’s ‘The Bachelor’ in 2015. He also was chosen to be one of 12 celebrity competitors on ‘Dancing With The Stars’ in that year but was eliminated during week eight of the competition, finishing fifth.

One of Soules’ attorneys, Brandon Brown, said in court documents that he may claim as a possible defense diminished capacity ‘based upon his then-existing medical condition due to injuries sustained.’

Brown did not provide an immediate response to the judge’s ruling or indicate whether Soules would appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court but indicated a statement was planned for release Friday.

Appeal: Soules' attorneys say he vigorously disagrees with the judge's ruling and will ask the state's highest court, Iowa Supreme Court, to review it

Appeal: Soules’ attorneys say he vigorously disagrees with the judge’s ruling and will ask the state’s highest court, Iowa Supreme Court, to review it

TEEN DRINKING, SPEEDING, DUI: SOULES’ RAP SHEET REVEALED

Soules' criminal record has more than a dozen convictions from the time he was 16 years old

Soules’ criminal record has more than a dozen convictions from the time he was 16 years old

Chris Soules, the dashing all-American gentleman farmer from Iowa who charmed his way into TV viewers’ hearts on The Bachelor, had spent his late teens and 20s going in and out of courtrooms on more than a dozen charges, most of them related to driving violations and alcohol consumption. 

Records available on Iowa Courts’ website detail Soules’ vast history of run-ins with the law, which goes back 1998 and includes 13 guilty pleas on a slew of counts, ranging from registration violations to underage drinking and fighting.

In 1998, Soules, then aged 16, was convicted for the first time of speeding six to 10 miles over a 55mph speed limit and was sentenced to a fine.

In 2001, Soules was found guilty of underage drinking and failure to maintain control of a vehicle in two separate incidents. Both cases saw the future reality star get off with fines.

In May and August of that year, Soules was convicted twice of possession of alcohols under age. In the latter incident, he was also found guilty of driving with an open container of alcohol, running a stop sign and speeding. Those cases also resulted in fines.

In February 2002, Soules was convicted of fighting, and in March he was back in court on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, which was later reduced to a count of defective brakes. 

Soules stayed out of trouble for four years until in 2006 he was convicted of his most serious charge – driving while intoxicated  – and fined more than $500. His sentence also included a year of probation.

In 2007, Soules was found guilty of speeding, and the same charge brought him back to court in 2009.

Soules’ final brush with the law before Monday’s arrest occurred in 2010, when he was convicted and fined for a registration violation.   



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