On Friday, 3rd District Judge Robert Adkins said a jury can hear evidence that the victim was texting with a co-worker on his cell phone and driving under the influence of Tramadol, a narcotic painkiller, at the time of the crash.

In court filings, defense attorney Edward Brass argued the information about the victim is essential to Officer Joseph Corbett's defense that he was not criminally negligent and not the immediate cause of the victim's death.

But Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Kent Morgan told The Salt Lake Tribune, "Utah law generally prohibits the introduction of any bad acts or negligence on the part of the victim, as a defense.

"The district attorney's office is disappointed in a ruling that would appear to put the victim on trial."

Last month, Adkins ruled that prosecutors may not introduce Taylorsville's pursuit policy at trial to show Corbett allegedly violated it by speeding into the intersection of Redwood Road and 4700 South on Feb. 7.

Corbett - who had turned on his lights and siren - collided with another car, killing its driver, 27-year-old John Terry Douglas of Tooele.

According to charging documents, Corbett was going 58 mph just prior to the crash. The department policy requires, among other things, that police slow to under 15 mph when entering an intersection against the light.

The defense disputes whether the light was red for Corbett when he entered the intersection. But two drivers following Corbett said the light was red for him, and four witnesses said the light was green for Douglas, according to the charges.

At the time of the crash, another Taylorsville officer was chasing a man wanted in Davis County for theft and fleeing police in a stolen car. The suspect, Johnathan A. Burgess, 22, had just fled a South Salt Lake police officer, who had called off the chase.

Corbett, the only Taylorsville officer trained in the use of tire spikes, was planning to deploy spikes to stop the suspect being pursued.

The Taylorsville department has since changed its pursuit policy to allow officers to chase only drivers wanted for violent felonies, such as aggravated assault.

Corbett's Oct. 16 trial date was cancelled Friday. A status hearing is set for Oct. 23.

shunt@sltrib.com