Christmas Eve ‘07 crash trial, verdict: guilty

I’m filing this under a new tag: the wheels of justice. And the incredibly long and arduous journey of a dui-manslaughter case.  The human and societal costs are staggering.

For starters, one victim, a motorist, dead. A number of injured motorists. The suspect, locked up since the crash on December 24, 2007.

Christopher Lee Smith, 32 years old, stands accused of DUI and manslaughter in a wrong-way, head-on collision on Pecos Road near 14th Street in Phoenix, AZ.

According to the Ahwatukee Foothills news story; “At the time of the crash, Smith was on probation for a previous misdemeanor DUI…”

Superior Court case number CR2008-102616 or search on supremecourt.az.gov

The “Sleep Driving” defense?

The so-called “sleep driving” defense may be employed, see e.g. this minute entry “Defense expert witness re sleep driving is discussed”

Trial delayed again due to a death in one of the victim’s family. The AFN is reporting (Oct 30, 2009? but i can’t find online) that the defendant has rejected a plea deal (no details given) and trial is scheduled for February 2010. The defendant remains incarcerated.

The Trial and Guilty Verdict

Trial coverage. Verdict, guilty. 2nd Degree Murder, and 3x aggravated assault.

Sleep driving. Sleep driving? SLEEP DRIVING!? What will the defense lawyers think of next? Does this ever really work? “…But defense attorney Charles Shell told the same jury that the tragedy was not his client’s fault because Smith was driving in his sleep and was unaware of what he was doing”, “An expert witness hired by the defense, Dr. Dave Gaither of Illinois, testified that if Smith had gone to sleep first, then he was probably sleep driving and unaware of what he was doing.” Hmm, what kind of doctor? apparently not a physician.

Bullhead City cyclist killed in hit-and-run

Larissa Jean Castilleja

Larissa Jean Castilleja, 43, a Bullhead City High teacher was killed Sept 9 when a driver hit her and fled the scene.

This fatality bears many similarities to several of four recent fatalities in the Phoenix-metro area this past summer.

1. the automobile driver hit-and-ran (all 5 incidents)
2. DUI on the part of the automobile driver is suspected (at least 4 of the 5 incidents)
3. time of day was overnight/early morning (ranging from 10pm to 4am)
4. no improper actions on the part of the cyclist are suspected (all 5 incidents)

The suspect’s case for suspicion of leaving the scene of a fatality is case number FR-20090720 in Bullhead City Justice Court (you can look that up at  supremecourt.az.gov.). Mojave superior court apparently isn’t searchable.

The suspect was later charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene, on Sept 28 he plead not guilty; and according to the Mojave Daily News, has secured himself  all-star Scottsdale DUI lawyer Scott Maasen. In granting the reduced bond, the judge expressed reservations and then … did it anyway! It was also revealed in that story that the defendant has an outstanding warrant for DUI in Nevada, which he says he is not aware of.

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Full text  of Bullhead City Police Department Press Release (.pdf here , includes a picture of the suspect) is below. It is well written and contains a lot of salient information, e.g. it specifically mentions the time of the collision, and the fact that the bicycle was equipped with lights. My only criticism is the use of the term ‘accident‘ — which should, of course, of been ‘collision’, or ‘crash’

Fatal Vehicle vs. Bicycle Accident
The Bullhead City Police Department arrested 53-year-old Gino Salvatore Gagliardi of Fort Mojave, Arizona for leaving the scene of a fatal accident after hitting a cyclist with his vehicle. Manslaughter charges are pending.
At 4:12 a.m. on Wednesday, September 9th, 43-year-old Larissa Jean Castilleja of Bullhead City was riding her bicycle southbound on the Bullhead Parkway, near North Oatman Road, when she was struck by a 1983 green GMC van driven by Gagliardi. Castilleja was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gagliardi’s vehicle, which had front-end damage and a flat tire, was found abandoned on Adobe and Mountain Pass Road. Witnesses say he left the area on foot. A few hours later, police located Gagliardi at his Fort Mojave residence. After further
investigation, police believe that alcohol may have been a contributing factor in this accident. A blood sample was taken from Gagliardi and per the Mohave County Attorney, manslaughter charges are pending the laboratory analysis of the blood. He was booked into the Mohave County Jail in Kingman.
Castilleja was wearing a helmet and her bicycle was equipped with safety lights.

…

2009 AZ Cyclist Fatality Grid

News reports: KPHO azcentral Mojave Daily News

Cyclist killed on Maricopa Road by suspected DUI

Michael Gray (Michael Gordon Gray), 43, died Sunday April 12, 2009 when a suspected drunken driver killed him at 3PM traveling along Maricopa Road nearby the access road to the Koli Equestrian Center. GRIC (Gila River Indian Community) police say they suspect the motorist may have been under the influence.

Here is near where I believe the collision occurred. Maricopa Road is a fast (posted 50MPH?) two-lane rural highway — one relatively narrow lane in each direction, there is a shoulder stripe and perhaps a foot or so of irregular asphalt and lots of gravel

In the several months that have passed, I am looking for updates on the status of the investigation. From what I gather, serious crimes on the reservation go to federal jurisdiction, see e.g. Sacaton man gets 27 years in killing of Gilbert bicyclist (more detail in the DoJ press release)

2009 AZ Cyclist Fatality Grid

azcentral :

Chandler man dies in car-bicycle accident [accident? grrrrr]

by Cathryn Creno – Apr. 17, 2009, The Arizona Republic

A 43-year-old Chandler man died Sunday after his bicycle and a car collided on Maricopa Road on the Gila River Indian Community, tribal police said Thursday.

Alia Maisonet, community public information officer, said Michael Gray was dead at the scene, in front of the Koli Equestrian Center, when medics arrived about 3 p.m. She did not release the name of the driver of the car, saying tribal police continue to investigate the accident.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiners Office said Thursday that Gray died of “multiple blunt force injuries.”

“The investigation revealed the victim was struck by a vehicle driven by a white male non-community member,” she said in a statement. “Alcohol may have been a contributing factor.”

Another hit-and-run; this time Mesa

A cyclist was seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver in Mesa in the early-evening timeframe. Monday Aug 24, 2009.  Police arrested Benito Gil-Mendoza, 31,  on suspicion of aggravated assault and hit-and-run.

The azcentral story says the collision was 6:30p. Sunset that day in Phoenix is 7:03p. No mention of lights was made in either of the news stories.

How will this one play out? After all, three hours is a long time. The suspect will likely deny he was drunk at the time.

Read the rest of this entry »

Drunken driver Sentenced in Cop’s Death

Salvador Vivas-Diaz was sentenced to the maximum of 16 years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter after driving drunk and hitting Phoenix PD Officer Shane Figueroa head-on. The officer was responding to a call at the time.

Traffic collisions, not, say, guns, are the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths of police officers. See: More Police Killed by Traffic than Guns.

“Alcohol-Related” vs. “Alcohol-Impaired”

In last week’s Numbers Guy WSJ column, Carl Bialik examines a dust-up between MADD and the (beverage industry-backed) Century Council. They published a bar-chart of alcohol-related fatalities broken down by BAC levels.

Note that the term alcohol-related means simply that any of the drivers involved had a BAC of 0.01 or greater.

What intests me, however, is how the chart looks if we include all fatalities and how the same chart would look. Read the rest of this entry »

Was that an accident, or a crash?

The term “accident” should never be used in connection with a vehicle collision.

Here is the reasoning. The terminology switch at NHTSA occurred years ago… Read the rest of this entry »

92-year-old jailed for DUI

I don’t normally like to comment on these far-afield stories but this one is particularly crazy.

It seems that 92-year-old Clifford Allen was convicted of his second DUI (second within six years,  one wonders if there are more?) this triggers some sort of mandatory sentence and landed him in the county lockup, when some sort of residential rehab fell through. Read the rest of this entry »

Rumsey guilty of manslaughter

Glenda Rumsey was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Tucson teenager Jose Rincon. This is fairly unusual, as juries rarely go for the higher degree murder charge, and instead usually opt for the less-serious Negligent Homicide (see here for a roundup of types of murder). Like many drunk drivers, she also tried to run. Read the rest of this entry »

DUI bill passes with help from speaker

UPDATE June 7, 2008:  HB2643 passed and signed. Score one for Napalitano. So the interlock stays at a year.