On Saturday, October 19 at approximately 3:10 p.m. on Elizabeth Lake Road in Antelope Valley, a teenager accidentally killed a motorcyclist and seriously injured three other motorcyclists in a head-on collision on the two-lane road.
The 19-year-old man, J.G., was driving a 2001 Infiniti G20 eastbound on Elizabeth Lake Road when he lost control of his vehicle and veered into the opposing lane. J.G. collided head-on into three motorcycles that were headed westbound on Elizabeth Road.
As a result of the collision, a 58-year-old motorcyclist was killed and three other motorcyclists were seriously injured. The 19-year-old driver of the Infiniti retained David M. Wallin, of the Law Offices of David M. Wallin to defend him in his criminal case.
In this vehicular manslaughter case our firm is working on, opposing counsel is contending that our client was driving too fast and is attributing it to gross negligence. Our client is being held in lieu of $120K bail and faces several counts and up to 9 or 10 years in prison. Attorney Wallin is attempting to get it down to a misdemeanor and only 2 to 3 years in jail.
In the state of California, manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another human being without malice. Under California law there are three types of manslaughter charges: voluntary, involuntary and vehicular. Vehicular manslaughter can be found under Section 192 of the California Penal Code. Under Section 192(c), a person can be guilty of vehicular manslaughter when they kill another person while driving and committing an unlawful act with gross negligence, or when driving they kill another person while committing a lawful act, but in a manner which might produce death in an unlawful manner.
On the vehicular manslaughter charge alone, our client can face from one year in jail or 2, 4, or 6 years in prison.
In vehicular manslaughter cases, it's unfortunate that when someone losses control of their vehicle and that loss of control subsequently causes death to another human being, the at-fault driver can face serious criminal penalties, even when it was an unintentional accident and alcohol was not involved. In this case in particular, our client is just 19-years-old and has his entire life ahead of him. In all of our cases we strive to find every possible angle and any mitigating circumstances that can reduce the sentencing and penalties that our clients face, and this above example is no exception.
Attorney David Wallin is a former Deputy District Attorney and he is a certified specialist in criminal law. Attorney Wallin has participated in over 100 jury trials and over 25,000 cases over the course of his legal career. With his knowledge and insight into the California criminal justice system and with our legal team having more than 50 years of combined experience, we're prepared to defend you!
Facing criminal charges? Contact a Palmdale criminal defense attorney from the Law Offices of David M. Wallin by calling (800) 8860-1383 to schedule your consultation!
