A Superior Court judge has denied a motion to dismiss the vehicular manslaughter case against two Santa Barbara men accused of participating in a speed contest on Foothill Road that prosecutors say led to the death of their friend.

Raul Ibarra, 24, died March 2 after colliding with a sport utility vehicle on Foothill Road while riding a motorcycle with Francisco Rodriguez, 23, and Jonathon Alvarez-Leon, 24.

Rodriguez and Alvarez are on trial for vehicular manslaughter for Ibarra’s death, and the District Attorney’s Office alleges the three men were racing.

Defense attorneys say the three often rode together in a single-file line in a particular order, as they were doing that day, and they were not racing. 

Rodriguez’s attorney, Ron Bamieh, filed a motion to dismiss the case, and told Judge Jean Dandona that the prosecution’s investigating police officer, Jaycee Hunter, had threatened him.

Dandona said she didn’t find the allegation credible and denied the request to dismiss.

Bamieh asked if the court had checked video footage from within the courthouse — to which Dandona didn’t respond — and said “the courtroom has been made a place I don’t feel safe.”

He took the denial to mean the court was “calling me a liar” and wanted a mistrial to allow Rodriguez to get another attorney, which Dandona denied.

Hunter has been testifying for several days, and was cross-examined by Deputy Public Defender Christine Voss on Monday morning.

She questioned him about his experience in traffic investigations, accident reconstruction and interviewing techniques.

On Friday, Hunter testified about calculating the speed of each motorcycle involved, which he determined from measurements at the scene and footage from a security camera 313 feet away from the collision site.

He testified Monday about his experience with the Santa Barbara Police Department and attendance at BATI — the Behavior Analysis Training Institute — where he learned about using misdirection and ruses during interviews.

Law enforcement officers may give the impression they have evidence they don’t have and accuse interviewees of lying about things they know to be true, he said in response to Voss’ questions.

Voss asked specifically about lies he told Rodriguez during an interview, and his accusations of Rodriguez being a liar (about talking to Alvarez on the roadway after the accident) even though Hunter knew the things he said were true.

Hunter said he used techniques “trying to ferret out” the facts.

At the preliminary hearing, he testified that he had accused Rodriguez of killing his friend during the interview.

Authorities believe Ibarra crashed into the oncoming vehicle after crossing the lane divider and went over the embankment, eventually hitting a tree.

Alvarez went into a slide and launched off the same embankment, but was able to walk back up to the road, authorities have said.

Rodriguez allegedly came back to the scene, talked briefly with Alvarez, and left again.

Both men told police that Rodriguez noticed his friends weren’t behind him, came back, and was told to leave by Alvarez since he didn’t have a motorcycle endorsement on his driver’s license.

Trial testimony was scheduled to continue Tuesday morning.

— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.