Barnes, aka adult performer Brian Surewood, and 19-year-old Armando Ayon were charged with one count of murder and vehicular manslaughter and three counts of reckless driving after a road-rage incident involving the two ended in a fatal crash, pinning the family against a parked car.
Surewood also has been charged with three counts of leaving the scene of an accident.
Adult industry attorney and Surewood's legal representation Michael Fattorosi told XBIZ that both men remain in jail — Surewood with a $1.2 million bail — until Dec. 3 when a date will be set for a preliminary hearing, where Fattorosi said he hopes his case will prompt the judge to dismiss all charges.
"We will present our case to show that the [district attorney's] case is weak and maybe nonexistent for the charges, and at that point the judge will decide what are valid counts," Fattorosi said.
Fattorosi said that Surewood's position has always been that he is not responsible for what happened, and he and two attorneys working with him on the case stand by him.
"It's important to realize that Brian's car did not impact anyone, Brian was not involved in the accident physically at all, and there's no damage to his car whatsoever," Fattorosi said. "The position that police and the DA are putting out is that this was a road rage incident."
On Oct. 9, witnesses to the accident told police that two cars, one driven by Barnes and the other by Ayon, were "jockeying for position" traveling between 50 and 90 miles per hour on residential streets in the San Fernando Valley at 3:12 p.m.
At one point, witnesses said, Barnes slammed on the brakes of his red Camaro and Ayon's black Nissan swerved to avoid collision, sending the vehicle hurtling into a silver Daewoo that subsequently pinned the family against another car.
Fattorosi said the nature of the dispute is what exactly happened on the road and who was responsible for what parts of the accident.
"There should be no rush to judgment," he said, "and until all evidence comes in and is fully analyzed by experts and accident deconstructionists, no one should make any types of conclusions as to what this incident was and how it occurred."
