California Criminal Lawyers Blog

Like others in Orange County and Southern California, our Santa Ana drunk driving criminal defense attorneys have followed the trial of Andrew Gallo on three charges of second-degree murder while driving drunk. Gallo is the driver accused of causing the deaths of Nick Adenhart, a pitcher for the Angels, as well as Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson, among other crimes. Gallo's attorney has repeatedly argued that his trial should be moved out of Orange County, saying the he cannot get a fair trial here because of the media surrounding Adenhart's death. Lower courts have ruled against that motion, so pretrial motions began Sept. 1, the Orange County Register reported. However, Gallo has appealed his case to the California Supreme Court, which may decide in his favor before jury selection starts on or around Sept. 13.

Gallo's criminal defense attorney filed the appeal with the high court Aug. 30. In it, she argues that Orange County Register readers rated Adenhart's death as the most important story of the year in an online poll, eclipsing the death of Michael Jackson, the economy and the inauguration of Barack Obama. In a phone survey, she said, 76 percent of potential jurors said they believed Gallo was guilty. Similar arguments have already been rejected in the Fourth District Court of Appeal and the Orange County Superior Court, although the judge in the case says he may consider a change of venue for the verdict or sentencing. Gallo is accused of driving drunk when he ran a red light in his minivan and slammed into Stewart's car, pinning it against a lamp post. In addition to killing Stewart, Pearson and Adenhart, the accident also seriously injured passenger Jonathan Wilhite. Gallo had a previous DUI and was driving on a suspended license, leading prosecutors to charge him with second-degree murder rather than DUI manslaughter.

As Garden Grove DUI criminal defense lawyers, we hope that the lower courts are right that Orange County jurors can be fair to Gallo. But we believe that Gallo has a reasonable argument that they may not be. Courts allow changes of venue when the case has gotten so much publicity that it's not clear whether jurors can be fair and unbiased. Given the publicity around the trial, and especially the phone survey cited in the Supreme Court filing, this appears to be an open question. So we hope the Supreme Court considers the petition carefully. A lot is riding on this outcome, because Gallo is accused of very serious crimes. In particular, the prosecutors have chosen to charge him with second-degree murder rather than manslaughter, reasoning that his prior conviction means he knew drunk driving was wrong when he did it anyway. A conviction on those charges alone could put Gallo in prison for 45 years, rather than the 12 to 30 years he would have faced for DUI manslaughter. Anyone with this much at stake deserves a fair trial.

Continue reading "Pretrial Motions Begin in DUI Murder Case as Court Considers Change of Venue" »

Our Santa Ana drunk driving criminal defense attorneys and many others in Orange County have been closely following the trial of Andrew Thomas Gallo, the alleged drunk driver accused of killing an Angels pitcher. So we weren't surprised to see that the defense asked for a change of venue recently, arguing that Gallo cannot get a fair trial in Orange County because of all the publicity surrounding the deaths of Nick Adenhart, Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson. As the Orange County Register reported July 16, a judge on that day denied the requested change of venue, saying news coverage has been balanced and jurors take their jobs seriously. However, the judge noted that he could reconsider if there are problems seating a jury.

Gallo is accused of crashing his minivan into Stewart's car in April of 2009, the night of a game 22-year-old pitcher Adehart had started for the Angels. Adenhart was riding in a car driven by Stewart, 20, with Pearson, 25 and Jonathon Wilhite, 24, as fellow passengers. Gallo allegedly had a BAC of nearly 0.24 when he ran a red light and t-boned Stewart's car, pushing it into a light pole. Wilhite was the only survivor in that car, and he suffered a serious injury known as an internal decapitation. Gallo was apparently unharmed, although his stepbrother, who was riding in the minivan, sustained injuries. Gallo left the scene, and it was later discovered that his license had been suspended for a previous DUI. He is charged with three counts of second-degree murder -- a more serious charge than DUI manslaughter -- as well as DUI with great bodily injury, leaving the scene of an accident and driving on a suspended license.

Adenhart was a young pitcher who wasn't well known at the time, but his death resulted in an outpouring of affection from teammates and Angels fans. As a result, this case has been closely watched by the media, and that's why our Riverside DUI criminal defense lawyers believe Gallo was right to ask to move the trial. A change of venue is appropriate when there's so much pre-trial publicity that the court can't be sure jurors will be unbiased. It's worth asking whether a fatal drunk driving accident, even one of this magnitude, would have gotten the same coverage if none of the victims had been a promising young pitcher for the hometown baseball team. Since the judge in this case has denied the motion, we hope he's right that jurors do their best to be fair in Orange County.

Continue reading "Judge Denies Bid to Move Trial of Alleged Nick Adenhart Killer Out of Orange County" »

Our Santa Ana drunk driving criminal defense lawyers wrote several times here about Andrew Thomas Gallo, the allegedly drunk driver who is charged with killing Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and students Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson. Gallo is charged with second-degree murder under the legal theory that because he had a prior drunk driving conviction, he knew it was wrong to drive drunk but did it anyway. We thought this was a stretch for the prosecution, so we were surprised to see the same theory being tested in another trial in Orange County, that of Alex David Trujillo. As the Orange County Register reported June 9, Trujillo is accused of being both drunk and high on prescription painkillers when he drove his car directly into a Seal Beach sidewalk, killing Catherine Busse, 46, and slightly injuring her then-14-year-old son, Sam Busse.

Trujillo does not deny that he caused the crash. However, his attorney argued in court that Trujillo had not had a drink since the night before and that his blood-alcohol content may have been under the 0.08 legal limit. The prosecutor disputed this, saying Trujillo's BAC was 0.10. He was also accused of having Xanax, Vicodin and Oxycontin in his system, which his attorney said were all legally prescribed for medical conditions. Trujillo has a previous DUI from 2002, for which he took DUI classes and attended a MADD victim impact panel. For that reason, the prosecutor argued that he knew drunk driving was wrong and got behind the wheel with "complete disregard for the danger he placed on the road," meriting a second-degree murder charge. Trujillo's attorney said he did not have a conscious disregard for human life, a requirement for a guilty finding for that charge.

As Pomona intoxicated driving criminal defense attorneys, we remain skeptical that the second-degree murder charge is truly the best fit for this crime. Second-degree murder is charged for planned killings or killings that show "an abandoned or malignant heart." Drivers should know that intentionally choosing to drive while intoxicated is dangerous and irresponsible -- but even when they make that choice, they aren't consciously setting out to kill someone. For this exact reason, California state law offers a different charge to fit DUI-related deaths -- gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. The difference is not academic. Trujillo faces 15 years to life for a conviction for second-degree murder, but would face four to ten years for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Given the stakes, if the jury believes Trujillo doesn't meet the standards for second-degree murder, they may choose not to convict him at all.

Continue reading "OC Man Charged With Murder for Intoxicated Driving Crash That Killed Bicyclist" »

Our Ontario DUI criminal defense attorneys wrote a few months ago about the ongoing murder trial of alleged drunk driver Andrew Thomas Gallo. As baseball fans may remember, Gallo is the driver accused of killing 22-year-old Nick Adenhart, a pitcher for the Angels who had just started his fourth major league game. The same crash also killed Courtney Stewart, 20, a Cal State Fullerton student; and Henry Pearson, 25, a law student and aspiring sports agent. A fourth passenger, Jonathon Wilhite, suffered a serious injury called an internal decapitation and is still recovering from the April 2009 accident. Gallo's passenger and stepbrother, Raymond Alejandro Rivera, was also injured. Gallo is accused of speeding through a red light with a blood-alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit, broadsiding Stewart's car and pushing it into a light pole. His driver's license was suspended at the time because of a previous DUI conviction.

In April, Gallo's criminal defense attorney motioned to move the trial out of Orange County, saying Gallo could not get a fair trial in a county full of Angels fans. Now, the Orange County Register reported June 1, Gallo's attorney has also asked for a delay in the trial. Defense attorney Jacqueline Goodman Rubio became the attorney of record on April 16 of this year, after Gallo successfully moved to replace his public defender with the private lawyer. Rubio told the court that despite working full-time to catch up on the case, she needs more time to prepare for the July 26 trial, and to prepare a motion to move the trial. The prosecutor opposed both the change of venue and the delay, as does the private attorney for the victims' families.

As our Placentia drunk driving criminal defense lawyers wrote in April, Gallo is charged with three counts of second-degree murder instead of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. (This is in addition to DUI and other charges.) The prosecutor in the case says the charge fits because Gallo had a previous DUI conviction, which means he knew driving drunk was dangerous. However, second-degree murder is a substantially more serious charge, carrying 15 years to life for each count, rather than the four to ten years possible for each gross vehicular manslaughter conviction. And, as we wrote in April, second-degree murder requires "malice aforethought," meaning premeditation or "an abandoned and malignant heart." Driving drunk is not a good decision, but we believe it's a stretch to argue that Gallo set out to kill three people he'd never met. Given the wide discrepancy between the manslaughter and murder sentences, we hope his jury thinks carefully about whether a conviction is truly just.

Continue reading "Allegedly Drunk Driver Who Killed Angels Pitcher Loses Request to Delay Trial" »

As Paramount homicide criminal defense attorneys, we were interested to see that prosecutors have withdrawn a plea deal in a high-profile stabbing case. The rare move comes in the case of Abdullah Wahihi, 22, who is accused of stabbing Andre Murillo, 22, a basketball player for Concordia University. The Orange County Register reported April 16 that prosecutors changed their minds on the plea bargain after Murillo discovered that Wahidi would spend only six months in jail after pleading guilty to assault with a deadly weapon. The deal would have dropped a charge of attempted murder. A spokesperson for the district attorney's office said the original deal was offered based on the facts and the office's understanding of Murillo's position, but when it found out he did not support the deal, the office decided for prosecution instead.

Wahidi, of West Hills, is a member of the Afghanistan National Basketball Team. He is accused of stabbing Murillo, now 19, outside of a party last April 26. Murillo suffered a 3.5-inch knife wound that deflated one lung and nicked his heart. The would required four surgeries and was complicated by pneumonia and a 40-pound weight loss, but Murillo is now back with Concordia's basketball team. Wahidi was charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, plus sentence enhancements for use of a deadly weapon and causing great bodily harm. Under the plea deal, however, he would only have been sentenced for the assault charge. When explaining its decision, the district attorney's office cited Marsy's Law, a victims' rights law that gives crime victims the right to confer with prosecutors about pretrial disposition of the case, among other things.

Our Lake Forest murder criminal defense lawyers were drawn to this story because it's unusual for prosecutors to cancel a plea bargain. Marsy's Law does not give crime victims the power to revoke prosecutions, just the right to stay informed and voice their opinions. We don't know the circumstances behind the charges, so we can't say whether the plea bargain was fair. However, we do know that an attempted second-degree murder charge, which is what Wahidi most likely faces, carries a sentence of five, seven or nine years in prison. Felony assault with a deadly weapon carries two to four years. These are without the sentence enhancements, which add time in prison. That means the discarded plea deal would likely have been much better for Wahidi. It might also have been better for the California justice system, which is already so overwhelmed that nonviolent prisoners are being released early.

Continue reading "Prosecutor's Office Withdraws Plea Bargain After Victim Objects to Sentence" »

As Orange DUI criminal defense attorneys, we were not at all surprised to read that Andrew Thomas Gallo has asked to move his trial. Gallo's trial has attracted a lot of publicity in Orange County because he is accused of drunk driving in the crash that killed 22-year-old Nick Adenhart, a promising pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The crash also killed 20-year-old Courtney Stewart and 25-year-old Henry Pearson, seriously injured Jonathon Wilhite, 24, and injured Raymond Alejandro Rivera. Gallo's charges include three counts of second-degree murder, DUI with great bodily injury, driving on a suspended license and hitting and running. He faces 50 years to life in prison if convicted on all charges, the Orange County Register reported April 1.

The accident happened April 9, 2009, in Fullerton, just hours after Adenhart started his fourth major league game. He was a passenger in a car driven by Stewart and also occupied by Wilhite and Pearson. As they proceeded through a green light, Gallo ran a red light and broadsided their vehicle. Stewart's vehicle slammed into a light pole and Stewart and Pearson died at the scene, while Adenhart died at the hospital. Wilhite's skull was severed from his spinal cord, but successfully reattached. He is now in intensive rehab. Rivera, Gallo's passenger, suffered minor injuries but Gallo, unharmed, fled the scene on foot. He was later apprehended and subjected to a test showing he had a BAC of three times the legal limit. (Tests also showed that Stewart had a BAC of 0.16.) Gallo had a prior conviction for drunk driving and did not have an active driver's license the night of the crash.

As Fontana drunk driving criminal defense lawyers, we wonder about the choice to charge Gallo with second-degree murder. The article notes that prosecutors charged second-degree murder rather than vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated because Gallo had a previous DUI conviction, which meant he knew drunk driving was wrong. However, murder may be a difficult charge to prove. California law defines murder as a killing "with malice aforethought." The circumstances suggest that Gallo didn't even know the victims, but the law permits prosecutors to find implied malice "when no considerable provocation appears, or when the circumstances attending the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart." The prosecutors are essentially arguing that this was shown by Gallo's choice to drive drunk a second time. That's a lot for the jury to swallow, especially when the lesser charge of gross vehicular manslaughter fits the circumstances so well.

Continue reading "Alleged Drunk Driver in Accident That Kills Angels Pitcher Requests Change of Venue" »