A murder trial has begun for a man who is accused of driving drunk and causing a 2023 crash that killed a beloved bartender before he fled the scene.
Brandon Allen Janik, 38, is accused of running a red light and striking 47-year-old Joshua Gilliland as the victim was crossing the three-way intersection of Normal Street and El Cajon and Park boulevards on June 10, 2023.
A jury was seated and opening statements launched the start of the trial on Tuesday. A prosecutor told the jury Janik fatally struck Gilliland in University Heights then fled and tried to cover up his involvement in the collision. But a defense attorney -- while conceding his client left the scene of the crash -- said prosecutors can't prove he was drunk at the time, which is required to find him guilty of murder.
Paramedics took Gilliland to a hospital, where he died four days later. Friends of Gilliland, who was a bartender at Cheers on Adams Avenue, said he was walking to work when the car struck him.
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Deputy District Attorney Hailey Williams told jurors that after drinking at bars in Hillcrest throughout the day, Janik was later found by bystanders passed out behind the wheel of a car stopped in the middle of University Avenue.
One person pulled Janik out of the car and moved the vehicle out of the roadway for him, the prosecutor said. As bystanders attended to Janik, he allegedly told them, "Thank you. You have no idea how much you are helping me. I already have a DUI."
Despite multiple 911 calls reporting the stopped car, police were unable to respond due to a high volume of emergency calls that night, Williams said. Two paramedics did respond to the scene and though Janik appeared intoxicated, he refused medical treatment and they could not involuntarily transport him to a hospital, the prosecutor said.
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Janik assured the paramedics he would call an Uber, then waited until they left, drove off, and struck Gilliland a few minutes later as the victim was legally crossing El Cajon Boulevard, according to Williams.
Witnesses from the earlier encounter on University Avenue were able to provide police with information that included the license plate number of the suspect's vehicle, which turned out to be a car loaned out by a local BMW dealership to Janik, whose personal car was being repaired at the time.
Williams said Janik returned the loaner BMW five days after striking Gilliland. He allegedly claimed to the dealership and his insurance company that the car was damaged after he struck a pole while backing into a parking space at his apartment complex. He also had the car's damaged windshield replaced shortly after the collision, the prosecutor said.
"Time and time again, the evidence will show that Mr. Janik chose self-preservation over accountability," Williams told the jury. "At the heart of the trial will lie one simple truth: That Mr. Janik had every opportunity to make the right choice, but instead he chose to drive drunk, he took a life, and he fled from his responsibility."
Defense attorney Justin Murphy told jurors his client "freaked out" after striking Gilliland and "absolutely should have stopped." Murphy said Janik's decisions to leave the scene and his "apparent attempts to cover up the accident" were "not an honorable choice."
But Murphy said there would be no physical evidence presented during the trial that would prove Janik was drunk.
The defense attorney, who described his client as a single father working three jobs who was "very exhausted that day," said much of the prosecution's case relied on erroneous witness testimony and credit card activity showing Janik purchased alcoholic beverages. He argued there was no evidence showing Janik consumed those drinks to sufficiently reach the point of intoxication or even consumed them at all. He also said a woman who was on a date with Janik that day rode in a car with him because he appeared OK to drive.
Murphy argued the paramedics who encountered Janik did not notice any scent of alcohol on him, nor did they notice any bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, or unsteady gait. The attorney also noted the "confusing" layout of the intersection where the fatality occurred.
Along with murder, Janik is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run, DUI, and several other charges related to filing a false insurance claim.
Prosecutors were able to charge Janik with murder due to a prior DUI conviction, a misdemeanor San Diego County case dating back to 2016. Williams said in that case, Janik was behind the wheel of a car that veered off state Route 52, rolling over multiple times, leaving him with "nearly life- threatening injuries."
Janik remains in custody without bail.
