After a deadly fight outside City Bar on State Street last May, the trial of murder suspect Daniel Kelly began Tuesday at the Dane County Courthouse.
Kelly has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide for shooting and killing 23-year-old Austin Bodahl, of Waconia, Minn., on May 22.
According to a Madison Police Department news release, officers responded around 11:54 p.m. that night to the fight on the 600 block of State Street, after shots were fired.
Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, who represents the area in which the incident occurred, said Bodahl and Kelly were the only two involved in the fight, although several onlookers intervened to try to stop the conflict from escalating.
Police were able to detain Kelly the night of the incident, and the alleged murder weapon was recovered. Bodahl was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Assistant Public Defender Dennis Burke, who represented 33-year-old Kelly Tuesday in court, said it was impossible to say how the trial had progressed so far.
“There’s nothing more unpredictable in this world than a criminal trial,” Burke said.
Eleven witnesses appeared in court Tuesday, Burke said, and the trial will continue today at 8:30 a.m. It is expected the run until the end of the week.
After cash bail was set for $100,000 in May, Kelly was ordered not to have any contact with the victim’s family, to remain in Dane County and to not handle any dangerous weapons. Kelly pled not guilty to the charges at his arraignment July 19. After testifying his competence to the court, Kelly was deemed fit for trial in a hearing Oct. 16.
Kelly has no history of criminal charges in Dane County.
Assistant District Attorney Lana Mades, who did not return calls as of press time, led prosecution against Kelly.