"It's not just about red lights and green lights," Brass countered.

Brass said it's a constitutional right for the defense to present their theory of what happened and let a jury decide whether the texting and Tramadol were relevant to the crash.

"The jury is entitled to know exactly why the failure to yield occurred in this case," Brass said.

Adkins also seemed puzzled by the prosecution's arguments. He questioned prosecutors whether motorists still had an obligation to yield to emergency vehicles even if they have a green light? And if they don't yield, why not? If the motorist didn't see an oncoming police car with lights and sirens, couldn't distracted or impaired driving be a factor?

Adkins ruled the evidence was relevant, and it will be up to a jury to determine what weight it deserves.

The defense already won a significant victory during the last court hearing when Adkins ruled the Taylorsville Police Department's own chase policy could not be admitted as evidence.

After Adkins made his ruling, a motion was made and granted for the previously scheduled three-day jury trial to be canceled, and a status hearing was scheduled instead for Oct. 23.

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E-mail: preavy@desnews.com