Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the unintentional second-degree murder trial of Kyndal Orange, an area man charged in the death last year of TiOnna Bruno of Ark City.
The proceedings were originally scheduled to begin Tuesday but were moved ahead one day to accommodate potential court furloughs. Jury selection could consume the entire first day of the proceedings, Cowley County attorney Chris Smith said.
Judge Nick St. Peter is presiding over the case, which will be tried in a Winfield courtroom.
Orange has pleaded not guilty to charges against him. He is charged with second-degree murder or, in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter in commission of a DUI, not having a driver’s license and DUI.
He is accused of recklessly causing a vehicle crash March 5, 2011 on U.S. 77 south of Winfield. Bruno, 26, died at the scene of the incident.
Kansas Highway Patrol Investigators and law enforcement personnel testified they had determined the crash did not meet criteria for being considered an accident.
During a preliminary hearing last May, a long-time friend of Bruno’s told the court she was on the phone with Bruno in the minutes leading up to the crash. Bruno and Orange were said to be in an argument because Orange was talking with other women at Galway’s Bar in Winfield during a night out on March 4.
The couple had been drinking and Bruno called Webb to discuss the issue with the other women.
The friend, Charlotte “Charlie” Webb, said a voice on the phone she recognized as Orange’s could be heard to tell Bruno that she should shut up or “I’m going to wreck this (expletive).”
Bruno, according to Webb’s testimony, said to Orange “no, Kyndal, don’t.”
Webb said it was clear the couple were driving down the highway. She heard the sound of a vehicle hitting rumble strips and then Bruno screaming.
A short time later Webb learned an accident had occurred on U.S. 77.
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