A jury deliberated about 2 hours before finding a man guilty of a February 2009 DUI fatality that injured one woman and killed her husband and infant child.
38-year-old Salvador Leon allegedly left a bar in the Earlimart area of California and entered the highway in the wrong direction, heading northbound in a southbound lane. According to reports, Leon did not become alerted when drivers attempted to flash their lights and honk at him. He eventually crashed head on with the young family while traveling about 50 mph.
The crash seriously injured a 22-year-old woman, killed her 23-year-old husband and her 7-month-old baby. Leon was found guilty or two counts of second degree murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and two counts of DUI causing great bodily injury. He will be sentenced for these crimes on March 11.
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A Sacramento man faces DUI charges after a head-on collision involving three cars.
Police said the arrested driver was traveling eastbound on Elverta Road near East Levee Road when he struck another car head on.
Fire officials had to cut off the top of that second car to free the female driver. A third car then slammed into the arrested driver’s car.
No one was seriously hurt.
Porterville resident Salvador Leon, 38, was found guilty on Tuesday of killing a Camarillo man and a baby last year as he drove drunk the wrong way on Highway 99.
After two hours of deliberation, a jury convicted Leon of two counts of second degree murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and two counts of driving under the influence causing great bodily injury to the surviving victim. His sentencing is scheduled for March 11 in the Visalia Courthouse, where is expected to receive a sentence of more 30 years to life in state prison.
On Feb. 2 2009, Leon left a bar in the Earlimart area and entered the highway headed northbound in the southbound lanes.
He drove more than five miles with a blood alcohol level of .25 — three times more than the legal limit. Numerous drivers attempted to stop Leon by flashing their lights at his car and honking their horns.
Near Avenue 56, while travelling about 50 mph, he collided head-on with a family driving in a Ford Escape. The crash seriously injured a 22-year-old woman, and killed her 23-year-old husband and seven month old baby boy.
Leon had four prior DUI convictions from San Diego County prior to the fatal incident.
The trial began on Jan. 4.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving presented an award to the Rocklin Police Department after officers competed against other departments to raise money for anti-drunk driving campaigns and services.
MADD Program Specialist Silas Miers presented a statue of a peace officer to Rocklin Police Chief Mark Siemens at last week’s city council meeting.
“It broke the hearts of the Elk Grove Police Department who were in the lead,” Miers said.
Miers said Elk Grove police were the two-time defending champions and they had been leading throughout the competition. It was the first time for Rocklin.
Rocklin Officer Michael Alway helped his department get organized to raise more than $3,300 for the annual “Walk Like MADD,” held in Sacramento on Oct. 17. Volunteers Michelle Rowberry, Patti Lewis and their families represented Rocklin at the walk/run event.
“I put an interdepartmental competition together. Whoever donated or raised the most money could get a pizza party at the end,” Alway said.
A New Year’s Day accident around 3AM in the San Diego area took the life of a 6-month’s pregnant woman and her unborn child.
Authorities have charged the suspect, 40-year-old Joseph Antony Venegas, with gross vehicular manslaughter and two counts of DUI causing injury. Arraignment for Venegas has been postponed because the driver was in medical isolation; he was only arraigned last Friday on the charges.
21-year-old Elaina Luquis-Ortiz and her unborn child, Romeo Fransisco, were both killed and two others were injured. Venegas was not charged in the death of the fetus, which is possible though not uniformly enforced in the state of California. The decision on this matter is pending.
Luquis-Ortiz was traveling home with her husband from a New Year’s Eve party when they were called to assist another driver with a flat tire. She pulled her own car behind the disabled vehicle to await further assistance. At that point, a much larger Chevrolet Tahoe struck the parked car.
Luquis-Ortis died at the scene nearly immediately upon impact. The other passengers, who she was assisting, suffered serious injuries.
Source: California DUI charge for death of unborn child considered
During this past legislative session, the California Legislature passed two new laws that will affect the rights and responsibilities of those convicted of certain drunk driving offenses. Assembly Bill 91 and Senate Bill 598 both involve the use of ignition interlock devices, or IIDs.
-AB 91 creates a pilot program for select counties, such as Los Angeles County, that will require all drivers convicted of a DUI offense to install IIDs in their vehicles as a condition to receive restricted driving privileges.
-SB 598 shortens the amount of time certain repeat DUI offenders will have to wait before becoming eligible to apply for restricted California driving privileges. To receive the restricted license though, these drivers will be required to meet certain criteria, such as the installation of an IID in their vehicles.
Both laws were signed by Governor Schwarzenegger on October 11, 2009 and go into effect on July 1, 2010. More information on each new law can be found below.
If you have been charged with a drunk driving offense in California, it is important to work with an experienced DUI attorney as soon as possible to defend against the DUI charges. As the punishments for even a first time drunk driving offense keep getting steeper and steeper, no one can afford the risk of facing their charges without legal representation.
Kings player Andres Nocioni (left) has been continued for a second time and is now scheduled for February.
Nocioni was arrested Nov. 5 on suspicion of driving under the influence in downtown Sacramento.
Nocioni is scheduled to appear in court again Feb. 3.
He faces two counts of driving under the influence and one count of driving without a valid license, according to Sacramento County Superior Court records.
This year will see the unveiling of several new state traffic laws, including one that gives Good Samaritans immunity from lawsuits and another that creates a pilot program for the increased use of ignition interlock devices for drunk driving offenders.
Most new laws take effect either this month or in July. Here are a few of the changes:
• Assembly Bill 91 authorizes the launch of a program in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Tulare counties testing the use of ignition interlock devices for those convicted of driving under the influence. Starting July 1 and continuing through Jan. 1, 2016, drivers who have lost their licenses as a result of a DUI conviction in any of those counties will not be able to get their licenses reinstated unless they install an ignition interlock device. The device requires drivers to prove their sobriety by breathing into an alcohol sensor unit on the dashboard before it will allow the vehicle to start.
The amount of time drivers must use the devices depends on the number of offenses they commit and whether their convictions are misdemeanors or felonies.
The law also establishes installation requirements. Installers must notify the Department of Motor Vehicles if a device is tampered with, bypassed or if an attempt has been made to remove a device.
Interlock devices are already in use, but it has been up to the discretion of the courts as to whether to impose their use, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jaret Paulson. “Right now you don’t see many vehicles with interlock devices, so I imagine once these laws go into effect, we’ll see many more in vehicles,” he said.
• Senate Bill 598, effective July 1, shortens the period that those convicted of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol for the second and third time must wait before applying for restricted licenses. Applicants, however, must install an ignition interlock device in their vehicle.
• Senate Bill 159, which went into effect on Jan. 1, removes the sunset clause from a law that requires drivers to slow down or make lane changes when they are near emergency vehicles displaying flashing lights. It also removes the sunset clause from a law that authorizes tow trucks to use flashing amber warning lights while providing service to a disabled vehicles in most circumstances.
A related measure, Senate Bill 240, adds marked Caltrans vehicles to the list of those allowed to use the flashing warning lights to get traffic to move over or slow down.
• Assembly Bill 62 allows a vehicle to carry television or video screen or other similar devices in the front seat as long as the driver can’t view the device while driving.
Previous laws prohibited televisions in the front compartment of vehicles, Paulson said.
• Assembly Bill 561 expands a law defining assault and battery against highway workers to include private roadwork contractors and employees of local government agencies as well as Caltrans workers.
• Assembly Bill 83 provides that Good Samaritans who give medical or non-medical care at the scene of an accident are not liable for any civil damages.
• Under Assembly Bill 628, a pay-by-plate system may be installed on toll highways and crossings to identify drivers by license plates and bill them if they fail to pay a toll. The law also states that entering a toll area without the correct amount of money or without a valid automatic pay account is evidence of a violation.
• Senate Bill 527 allows a person to ride a bicycle without a seat if the manufacturer designed it to be used that way.
For a complete list of all laws enacted in 2009, go to www.LegInfo.ca.gov.
Assemblyman Jerry Hill was shocked when he read reports that a San Mateo man was arrested for drunken driving after officers grabbing a cup of coffee watched him drive the wrong direction into the parking lot and stumble into the shop.
But Hill was even more shocked to learn that the man had been allowed back behind the wheel after eight previous DUI convictions.
So the San Mateo Democrat decided to push for a law to allow judges to permanently revoke the license of a driver with three or more DUIs.
“Today you need to hurt or kill someone before your license is revoked, and that’s ridiculous,” Hill said.
Under current law, judges can suspend, but not revoke, the licenses of repeat offenders with one or more DUIs in the previous 10 years unless they injure or kill someone in an alcohol-related accident.
Hill’s measure, which he plans to introduce Monday, would also let judges consider the defendant’s complete driving record during sentencing.
About 22 percent of the 153,000 DUI convictions reported in 2007 involved California motorists with at least one other DUI conviction in the previous 10 years, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
National Highway Traffic Administration data from 2008 show that nearly 311,000 California motorists have been convicted of at least three DUIs over the previous 25 years.
Critics say Hill’s measure won’t deter habitual drunken drivers but would put more unlicensed and uninsured drivers behind the wheel.
“You can never stop drunken driving, never,” said Joshua Dale, executive director of the California DUI Lawyers Association. “It will never end unless you get the cars to take over.”
But Hill said taking repeat offenders off the road is a logical place to start to ensure safer driving for all.
“If you receive three or more DUIs, it’s a clear indication that something’s wrong,” he said.
A Sacramento woman accused of driving drunk last year and fatally rear-ending a motorcyclist near Elk Grove Park has pled not guilty in Sacramento County Superior Court and will stand trial in March.
Suspect Rebecca Vela, 33, was arraigned Dec. 31 at the Sacramento County Main Jail, following a Dec. 18 preliminary hearing that found there was enough evidence against her to warrant a trial.
Vela pled not guilty to the three charges against her: murder, felonious DUI and felonious hit-and-run. She also denied charges related to four prior DUI convictions mentioned in a district attorney complaint amended at the Dec. 18 preliminary hearing.
A trial readiness conference will be held March 19, and Vela will stand trial March 25.
The charges stem from an April 28, 2009 accident in which prosecutors say Vela drove drunk on East Stockton Boulevard and rear-ended 54-year-old Stanley Franklin Spaeth of Sacramento. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Deputy District Attorney Leland Washington declined to comment after the Dec. 31 arraignment.
Vela’s attorney, Russell Miller, said he didn’t have any new information.
“We’re marching ahead,” Miller said after the arraignment.
Vela is being held without bail at the Sacramento County Main Jail, according to Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department records.