#29aday

In the San Diego region, a report by Pauline Repard in the San Diego Union-Tribune tells of a special unit, "the District Attorney’s DUI Homicide Unit, created four years ago and led by Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright."  

Definitely a good start, even if belated.

The piece continues reporting on recent convictions.  Following is the listing of the convictions from the article.  Emphasis is mine.

• Marco Antonio Pastor, 31. On Aug. 1, a jury in a re-trial found him guilty of second-degree murder for an Oct. 12, 2015 head-on crash that killed Joseph Howard Crews, 77, on East Mission Road in Oceanside. Pastor had two prior DUI convictions. He faces 15 years to life in prison.

• Ricardo Vargas, 33, pleaded guilty on Aug. 2 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for a March 27 crash on state Route 78 that killed his passenger, Martha Zulema Martinez Arambula. He faces six years in prison.

• Felix Ruiz Bazan, 26, pleaded guilty on Aug. 6 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for being under the influence of meth when he veered into a bike lane on state Route 76 in Oceanside on Aug. 31, 2017, killing record-setting endurance cyclist Paul Cornish, 70. Bazan has agreed to a 10-year prison sentence.

• Chloe Gordon, 20, pleaded guilty on Aug. 7 to gross vehicular manslaughter for speeding and crashing her own SUV on state Route 15 on May 8, 2017. Another driver, Chi Ho Michael Lee, 42, smashed into the SUV and died. Gordon faces four years in prison.

• Michael Gray, 50, pleaded guilty on Aug. 9, the day of trial, to second-degree murder with two serious felony priors. He killed tow truck operator Fred Griffith, 55, on the shoulder of state Route 52 near Santee in a hit-and-run on Feb. 23, 2017. He has three DUI priors and faces 25 years to life in prison.

• Joshua Ness, 33, pleaded guilty Aug. 14 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for the hit-and-run death of Michael O’Rourke as he walked across East Second Street in El Cajon on Oct. 10, 2017. He will receive a stipulated 15-year sentence.

Of the six convicted, two had multiple...say again multiple...DUI convictions.  Why on earth were they still on the road?  Did they go to prison for second and third DUI convictions?

For the other four, the average sentence was 8.75 years.  Let that sink in, less than 10 years for killing someone.  To put it in perspective, the maximum penalty for a first-degree burglary offense is six years.  

The District Attorney's office is to be applauded for their reported aggressive prosecution of those accused of causing death while DUI.  But more aggressive prosecution of all DUI, with much stiffer sentences, just might prevent some needless loss of life.  In the above, one-third of those convicted of killing someone while DUI had previous DUI convictions.  That is a pretty good indicator. 

In the above cases, maybe two of the victims would still be alive.