Staring at a murder charge, the man who allegedly struck and killed former American Idol contestant Alexis Cohen may be putting the blame on her.
The lawyer for 24-year-old Daniel Bark says his client plans to plead not guilty across the board to the charges of vehicular homicide, aggravated manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident and evading police on the New Jersey shore.
The kicker? Attorney Daniel Glassman (no relation to Hailey Glassman) tells E! News Cohen may have been boozing it up right before she was killed.
“So far, the information that’s been provided by the prosecutor’s office has been all one-sided in respect to the allegations against my client,” he says.
“There’s no specifics on witnesses, where the victim was found, the nature of the impact of the car … and we don’t know what the victim’s physical condition was before the accident so it’s a little premature to discuss.”
Specifically, Glassman says his team is looking at the “mechanics” of the incident, which began when Daniel Bark allegedly struck a parked car with his 2005 Mitsubishi Galant and then ran down Alexis Cohen, 25, while trying to flee the cops.
Daniel Bark is looking at potentially mitigating factors such as:
- What the lighting was like at the accident’s time of 4 a.m.
- Whether or not she accidentally stepped in front of his car.
- Whether the American Idol castoff’s drinking at a local watering hole may have somehow contributed to the tragedy.
While Glassman confirms Bark had a prior DUI dating back to 2004, the lawyer was quick to note that allegations his client are “without substance of fact.”
Glassman also notes that potential lawsuits are in the works.
“There are three parallel investigations,” he said. “One from prosecutors, two from civil attorneys with respect to the bars involved and our defense strategy in relation to the mechanics of how the accident happened.”
On behalf of Daniel Bark, who’s currently being held on a suicide watch in Ocean County Jail on $250,000 bail, Daniel Glassman expressed condolences to the family of Alexis Cohen, calling it a “horrible situation.”