Highway 7 crash: Driver to appear in court over crash that seriously injured Hopkins student

(FOX9) – On Monday in Hennepin County around Minnesota vs. Mohamed Aydarus Salad trial it starts.

If convicted of the driving offense, the 29-year-old could spend five years behind bars after prosecutors say he caused a crash in March.

On March 5, Lauren Olson was turning left at the intersection of Highway 7 and Williston Road when: her vehicle was a flatbed. Investigators say Salad, who was behind the wheel, hit his shoulder at 96 miles per hour just five seconds before the crash while running a red light.

His driving license had already been revoked after more than a dozen previous driving-related incidents.

Personal injury attorney Michael Bryant – who is not associated with the case – argues that an extensive driving record could be hidden from jurors.

“You can’t convict a person of past events,” Bryant told FOX 9 Sunday. “You have to be convicted of that crime, so sometimes they admit certain things and sometimes they don’t because they are so similar that they don’t want the jury to sentenced on the basis of these things.”

After the accident, Olson spent a week in a coma while he was hospitalized for a month with broken bones and a severe brain injury. The GoFundMe campaign raised $82,000 for the teenager. But Bryant says public support will have to be kept out of the courtroom.

“They will tell people in the crowd that you can’t explode, you can’t react to certain things, you can’t get emotional because the jury shouldn’t be influenced by things that happen outside the witness stand or the evidence that they see,” Bryant said. He expects the trial to take about a week.

“Sometimes the goal is to get the best deal possible for the person,” Bryant concluded.