The L.A. County Superior Court has set a preliminary trial date in the case of the October 2023 PCH crash that killed four Pepperdine students.
The preliminary trial will take place Oct. 9 at the Van Nuys Courthouse. Judge Diego H. Edber is requiring Fraser Michael Bohm to be present for the October date. This will be within 10 days of the one year anniversary of the crash.
The 22-year-old Bohm was charged with four counts of murder and four counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence after his car hit and killed four Pepperdine students, Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams on Pacific Coast Highway on Oct. 17, 2023.
Niamh’s mother Tracy Rolston sat inside the courtroom Wednesday morning alongside alumna Bridget Thompson, close friend and roommate to three of the four Pepperdine women.
Bohm was released on a $4 million bond Oct. 27, 2023, after pleading not guilty to all charges.
Bohm did not appear in court Wednesday morning.
The trial is now scheduled to begin in early January 2025, Edber said.
Defense Attorney Michael Kraut filed a discovery motion requesting all previous state records of crash incidents that didn’t include driving under intoxication or foreign substances be made known before the upcoming preliminary hearing.
Kraut claimed his client was a victim of road rage which led to the crash. He is also claiming that Bohm was driving 70 mph instead of the 104 mph reported by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.
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Contact Rachel Flynn via email: rachel.flynn@pepperdine.edu
Contact Gabrielle Salgado via email: gabrielle.salgado@pepperdine.edu
