DUI Driver Guilty in Fatal Crash; Court: Holdout juror forces the lesser charge of manslaughter for man with 8 drunk-driving convictions.
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A Beverly Hills man with eight drunk-driving convictions narrowly escaped a murder conviction Wednesday for a 1998 fatal accident when a single holdout juror forced the panel to accept conviction on the lesser charge of manslaughter instead. (Johnny) Castro’s lawyer, Larry Boyle, contended that another man the defendant met at a bar was behind the wheel and fled after the accident. He called the defendant’s wife and his brother, as well as a passer-by who saw two people in Castro’s car, as witnesses to corroborate the defense. Deputy Dist. Atty. John Asari pointed out injuries and damage to the car and offered the testimony of an off-duty police officer who witnessed the accident to prove the defendant was driving. He also outlined Castro’s driving record as evidence that he knew driving drunk was dangerous and didn’t care, making the fatal accident a murder. Source : pqasb.pqarchiver.com |