The driver in a wrong-way crash has elected not to enter into a plea agreement with Ward County prosecutors, and has been scheduled for a three-day jury trial beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

James Feeley, 18, Minot, appeared in North Central District Court for a pretrial conference on Wednesday morning. Feeley is charged with criminal vehicular injury, a Class C felony, and two infractions for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, stemming from a Jan. 31 crash where he allegedly drove the wrong way in the eastbound lanes of U.S. Highway 2 and collided with another vehicle driven by Tyanna Weeks, 18, Minot, who sustained life-threatening injuries in the crash.

Feeley’s attorney Ashley Gulke told Mattson the state had provided a plea agreement, but her client would not be accepting it at this time. Gulke said her client was in the process of completing a drug and alcohol evaluation and would be ready to proceed with another pre-trial conference following their resolution. The court had previously issued two warrants to apprehend Feeley for failing two random breath tests in March and failing to appear and obstructing the camera at the testing site during two tests in May.

Deputy State’s Attorney Tiffany Sorgen told the court she thought the trial could be completed in three days, providing about a day and a half for jury selection and the prosecution’s case. Gulke agreed with Sorgen, saying, “the facts of the case are fairly straightforward.”

Mattson indicated he would like to get the case resolved as quickly as possible, saying the three days requested would likely be sufficient based on his experience with the two parties.