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Indianapolis, IN


David Bisard

NDIANAPOLIS - Suspended Indianapolis Metro Police Officer David Bisard will go on trial for his role in a deadly 2010 crash in October.

An Allen County judge set the trial date for October 15th at a hearing Friday. Bisard attended the hearing.

The case is expected to take at least two weeks.

Bisard is accused of driving drunk when his squad car ran into a group of motorcyclists in August 2010. Eric Wells was killed in the crash.

The trial was moved to Fort Wayne in Allen County because of extensive publicity about the case.

Recent developments:

March 4: IMPD officers, demoted after Bisard crash, now promoted - The Indianapolis Metro Police Department promoted some of its officers to high-ranking positions Monday. Ronald Hicks and John Conley both played roles at the scene where suspended Officer David Bisard is accused of crashing into three motorcycle riders while driving drunk in August 2010.

Ronald Hicks was promoted to Assistant Chief of Police and John Conley is now Commander of the Southeast District. Both were promoted in a ceremony held in the Chief's Conference Room.

Hicks and Conley, along with then - Assistant Chief Darryl Pierce, were demoted a few weeks after the Bisard crash, which claimed the life of Eric Wells, due to a "failure in leadership" amid claims of a flawed investigation. Bisard's blood alcohol content was tested at well over the legal limit, but drunk driving charges were thrown out on a technicality stemming from the way the blood sample was handled.

Jan. 3: IMPD evidence room undergoes changes after Bisard blood removed - Critical blood evidence from a deadly drunk driving case against Officer David Bisard was mistakenly removed from a refrigeration unit in the IMPD property room and transferred to storage. It sat unrefrigerated from mid November 2011 to April 16th.

Police Chief Paul Ciesielski stepped down and the FBI stepped in to investigate.

But the only culprit found was outdated and poorly constructed property room guidelines.

Now, nine months after the embarrassing discovery, 13 Investigates and its cameras venture inside the property room for a rare look at how evidence in some of the city's worst and highest profile cases are now stored.

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International Association for Property and Evidence
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