Boston University College of Communication professor Robert Zelnick was released on bail at his arraignment on Friday morning after pleading innocent to charges of vehicular manslaughter and failing to yield to oncoming traffic, officials said.
Assistant District Attorney Bridget Middleton said Zelnick had his license revoked and would not be allowed to operate a motor vehicle for the duration of the hearings. These measures were taken because Zelnick is seen as a possible threat, she said.
Zelnick’s 2006 BMW sports utility vehicle struck a 2003 Honda motorcycle while driving on Clark Road on Oct. 7, according to a report filed by the Plymouth Police Department. The motorcyclist, 26-year-old Brian Kennedy, later died due to injuries sustained in the accident.
A Plymouth Police spokeswoman told The Daily Free Press in a Dec. 22 article that no was alcohol involved in the incident.
The jury instructions for Massachusetts’ district courts state there are several requirements for a guilty conviction in a vehicular manslaughter case. The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant was driving recklessly and negligently and that the defendant directly caused the death of another person.
The proceedings will continue on May 25 with a pre-trial hearing. Zelnick will continue to teach the two sections of Media Law and Ethics assigned to him at BU this semester, according to the Dec. DFP article.
“The trial’s not going to be until probably next summer, and I would think that there wouldn’t be much concern about this until the trial actually starts,” he said in the Dec. DFP article.
Neither Zelnick nor his lawyer Kevin Mullen was available for comment in time for publication.
