Crews work the scene of a head-on collision on the 900 block of Maine Street on Sept. 7, 2012.

It has been five years since Justin M. Crawford barreled through a stoplight at Ninth and Maine streets — driving an estimated 60 mph-plus in a 25 mph zone — and slammed his SUV head-on into another car.

The resulting criminal case against Crawford still has not been resolved.

Among other reasons, Crawford didn’t show up to his own jury trial last week in Douglas County District Court, which prosecutors said was the second time he has failed to appear for a scheduled jury trial.

On Tuesday, after being arrested and brought into court from the jail, Crawford also fired his court-appointed attorney — the third attorney he has had since the case was filed in 2014 — further delaying proceedings.

Judge Kay Huff scheduled a hearing for December and said at that time the court would set a new trial date.

Crawford, 44, is now in jail, being held on $250,000 bond.

Justin M. Crawford

On Aug. 23, jurors had been called for duty, proposed jury instructions had been filed, numerous witnesses had been subpoenaed and attorneys were in court.

“Obviously, the court knows the inconvenience to the parties, to all the potential jurors that were called in … and the cost to the county,” prosecutor Eve Kemple said at a hearing Tuesday in requesting the $250,000 bond.

At the same hearing, Crawford’s appointed attorney, Clinton Lee, said his client wanted a new attorney and that he agreed that was the best idea. Lee said he was unable to communicate with Crawford and that Crawford was not communicating “effectively” with him.

“Our relationship, if you want to call it that, has deteriorated to the point that there really isn’t one,” Lee told the judge. “I don’t know that we’ll be able to work together moving forward.”

Crawford appeared thin and unkempt, with long hair and an ungroomed beard.

His father, who was in the courtroom, said Crawford had medical and mental health problems that were worsened by the wreck and pain medications he was prescribed for his injuries, which were severe and required multiple surgeries at the time.

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The accident happened about 2:15 p.m. Sept. 7, 2012.

Crawford was southbound on Maine Street at a high rate of speed, flew through the stoplight and, at some point, crossed the center line onto the wrong side of the road before hitting the other car head-on, about halfway down the 900 block of Maine Street.

Inside the other car were two longtime friends who’d just finished a swim at Robinson Center, Jean Drumm, then 67, and Lin Stearns, 49, both of Lawrence.

Crews work the scene of a head-on collision on the 900 block of Maine Street on Sept. 7, 2012.

Emergency crews had to extricate all three from their vehicles.

Drumm spent about a month hospitalized before moving to a rehabilitation facility to continue healing from two broken legs, the Journal-World previously reported. The wreck broke several bones in one of Stearns’ legs.

Crawford was flown to the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., where he spent more than two weeks, according to court documents in the case.

In the currently pending case, criminal charges against Crawford were filed in April 2014: two felony counts of aggravated battery, for recklessly causing great bodily harm to Drumm and Stearns, and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving.

A jury heard his case in April 2015 but that ended in a mistrial.

Jurors found Crawford guilty of a fourth charge, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, but could not agree on a verdict for the aggravated battery and reckless driving charges. Those charges still stand.

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Crawford had three previous DUI convictions at the time of the wreck, the Journal-World previously reported. He’d also been arrested on suspicion of DUI at least one other time but refused an alcohol breath test and paid a fine as punishment.

Preliminary reports from the Lawrence Police Department indicated that Crawford was suspected of DUI when he caused the wreck at Ninth and Maine.

Earlier in the day, Crawford had been at a Topeka hospital where he was given morphine for complaints of severe abdominal pain, according to a motion filed by prosecutors. Prosecutors allege Crawford then went home, consumed a six-pack of beer and drove to Lawrence Memorial Hospital and received multiple doses of fentanyl for complaints of extreme pain in his chest.

According to the document, LMH hospital staff said Crawford indicated he would take a cab when he was discharged.

Crawford’s father said his son suffers from an autoimmune disease that caused painful growths on his lungs and kidney.

After leaving the Topeka hospital, Raymond Crawford said, his son came to his house and slept a few hours before going to Lawrence for a doctor’s appointment, but rerouted to LMH because he was experiencing more pain.

His father said he was not drunk. At the time of the wreck Crawford had just been discharged after receiving the pain medication at LMH.

“He left the hospital on Maine,” he said.