Lawyer for Oregon defensive back Daylen Austin seeks dismissal of alleged felony hit-and-run

EUGENE — Oregon defensive back

Daylen Austin

‘s attorney is claiming “severe prosecutorial misconduct” occurred during grand jury testimony and has filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against him for an alleged felony hit and run that left a man dead.

Bryan Boender, Austin’s attorney, is claiming prosecutorial misconduct “and other constitutional violations” took place during grand jury testimony in January. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Tuesday in Lane County Circuit Court.

Austin, 20,

pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned in February

for failing to perform the duties of a driver when another person is injured, a Class B felony, for fatally striking Frank William Seaman with his SUV on April 15, 2024.

Trial remains scheduled for Aug. 14, but Boender claims prosecutors introduced ”inadmissible and highly prejudicial evidence, including multiple unambiguous references to Mr. Austin’s invocation of his constitutional rights to silence and to an attorney” and failed to provide “material exculpatory evidence” to the grand jury.

Lane County District Attorney Chris Parosa could not immediately be reached for comment.

According to Boender’s motion, Eugene police detective Scott Jones referenced “symbols” Austin made with his hands in a photograph shown to the grand jury, as well as images of a text message between Austin and a friend — whose identity is not disclosed in the motion — stating “I be faded just talking.”

However, a toxicology report showed no intoxicants found in Austin’s blood on the night of the incident and Jones knew that, but failed to reveal those rest results to the grand jury, according to the motion.

“The detective’s obvious and highly inappropriate (yet incorrect) suggestion was that Mr. Austin was using a gang sign,” the motion reads. “The state’s (false) implication was that Mr. Austin was intoxicated, even though possible intoxication had no relevance to the single charge under consideration. Even more outrageous was the state’s blatant invocation of racist stereotypes and innuendo in a case where a Black teenager was under investigation. … The grand jury never heard that Mr. Austin was not intoxicated; it only heard that Mr. Austin had sent a text message stating, ‘I be faded just talking.’ The state’s failure to correct the false evidence it presented to the grand jury with available exculpatory evidence violates due process and constitutes severe prosecutorial misconduct.”

During Jones’s testimony a grand juror asked whether police contacted Austin on the night of the incident. He confirmed they did so later in the evening “at his room and he lawyered up,” according to the motion, which states the prosecutor told the grand jury to disregard.

Jones’s PowerPoint presentation to the grand jury also included images of texts between Austin and Osman Kamara, Oregon’s director of player development, between 10:48 p.m. and 11 p.m. on the night of the incident. Kamara tells Austin to call him, then states he is “on the phone with the chief,” who “said do not give a statement without a lawyer.” The grand jury was not instructed to disregard that evidence, according to Boender.

“That was patently improper testimony that violated Mr. Austin’s constitutional rights,” Boender argues. “Given that prejudicial impact, the prosecutor’s direction to disregard one of those two improper statements was insufficient. The bell had already been rung. And, in any event, the prosecutor made no effort to cure the presumptive prejudice from the statement in the PowerPoint presentation.”

The Lane County Medical Examiner’s report — released prior to the grand jury — explains Seaman, who police identified as homeless, “was known by police to be a ‘mean drunk’ who had a ‘history of illicit drug use’” and a toxicology report showed he had “acute alcohol intoxication” and “recent methamphetamine use,” and states he had schizophrenia — none of which was was provided to the grand jury, according to Boender.

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