A judge will wait until next week before deciding whether vehicular homicide cases should move forward against two men charged in connection with a fatal crash earlier this month.

Natrona County Circuit Judge Steven Brown said Thursday he wanted time to review the cases against Donald Walsh and Dennis Norris before deciding whether to move them to district court.

His decision followed a nearly two-hour preliminary hearing where investigators laid out the events leading up to the Aug. 8 death of Cory Campbell. Police say the crash happened as Campbell and Walsh raced pickups between two Casper bars.

Walsh, 23, is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Norris, 21, is accused of aiding and abetting vehicular homicide by giving his truck to an intoxicated Walsh for the drive from the Sandbar Lounge to Sidelines Sports Bar.

During the hearing, Assistant District Attorney Dan Itzen compared drag racing to "Russian roulette with V-8s."

"It's clear, if there is no race, there is no wreck," he said.

Norris, he added, provided the "mechanism for this to happen."

Walsh's attorney, Richard Jamieson, told the court his client's truck did not make contact with Campbell's pickup nor did it run the pickup off the road.

"The state has to prove more than he was involved in a drag race," Jamieson said.

Norris, Walsh, Campbell and two other men had been drinking together at the Sandbar for a few hours prior to the crash, police say. However, Norris' attorney, Tom Smith, maintained there was no evidence his client knew Walsh was incapable of driving.

"Your honor, I would submit if a crime was committed here, Mr. Norris was a spectator," he said.

Blood tests taken after the crash showed all three men had blood alcohol levels above the legal driving limit of .08, Casper police detective Wes Gudahl testified during the hearing.

The investigator said Campbell and Walsh were friends who lived across the street from one another in Bar Nunn.

The day of the crash, they drove to the Sandbar in Campbell's 2007 Chevrolet pickup sometime around 5 p.m. They met Norris and the two other men, and all of them drank alcohol, according to police.

At about 7:30 p.m., the group decided to drive to Sidelines. Walsh initially sat in the back seat of Campbell's truck, but after speaking with Norris, he ended up driving Norris' Dodge pickup.

While heading north on Poplar Street, Walsh and Campbell began racing, Gudahl said. Walsh was driving in the left lane with Campbell in the right.

They stopped at a traffic light on the north side of Interstate 25, and it when it turned green, they took off. Walsh was initially out in front, but Campbell's truck caught and then passed him.

Campbell's truck did not make the left turn in the road just past Mike Lansing Field. Instead, it jumped the curb and went down a hill. Campbell was thrown from the truck and died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt.

Walsh's truck, meanwhile, struck the curb, rupturing its right rear tire. It did not crash and Walsh continued to Sidelines, where he had a drink and called Campbell's cell phone.

Both trucks were apparently traveling in excess of 80 mph around the time of the crash, according to police.

Between 14 and 15 people witnessed the race or part of the crash. Some onlookers told police there was only a few feet of space between the two trucks before the crash, the detective testified.

After the crash, police interviewed Norris, who reportedly told them he was dumb for letting Walsh drive.

Walsh and Norris remain free on bond.

Reach crime reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.