Santa Cruz DUI Manslaughter Plea

What a terrible story, as they usually are with DUI accidents. This one ended better than it could have, however, as an innocent family involved in the accident escaped alive.

Interesting that a witness to the crash ran after the fleeing DUI driver.

Man pleads no contest in fatal South County DUI – San Jose Mercury News: “A Los Angeles County man accused of driving drunk and causing a fatal crash on Highway 152 this spring pleaded no contest to charges Thursday morning and will be sentenced to eight years in state prison.

Jose Serrano-Mendoza, 21, of Sepulveda had consumed about six beers and was speeding east on the highway around 6 p.m. April 26, a Sunday, when he tried to zip around a car carrying a Morgan Hill family home from a vacation weekend in Santa Cruz but instead clipped the front of the family’s car. The impact caused both vehicles to careen off the road.

The family’s Ford Taurus flipped and landed upside down, trapping the parents and their two young boys inside the overturned car. The boys were not injured and the parents escaped with minor injuries.

Serrano-Mendoza had three passengers in his Honda Civic. Esteban Lazcano Billalva, 27, of Watsonville was seriously injured after he was ejected from the car. He was alive at the scene, but died five days later.

Billalva’s brother and cousin were also in the car. They and Serrano-Mendoza fled after the crash. A man who witnessed the wreck chased after Serrano-Mendoza, caught him and held him until police arrived, according to prosecutor Barbara Rizzier”

According to DUI Attorney John Musca, it is sometimes better to cut a good plea deal in these types of cases where the facts are impossible or there are sympathetic victims. “In the end, it’s always about the best interest of the client.

Los Angeles DUI lawyer Randall Longwith knows this all too well. His high-end DUI/homicide clients have been the subject of much publicity.

California DUI attorneys who take on these unpopular cases have even been the victims of death threats. It takes a special breed of attorney to defend these cases.

For more information on the local courts involved in this case, see Santa Cruz DUI Attorneys or contact the Kavinoky Law Firm.