People v. Farias CA5

INTRODUCTION

Appellant/defendant Richard Eugene Farias drove his Jaguar at high speed while intoxicated and passed other cars on the road. Deborah Lyon was in the front passenger seat, and Marcel Rodriguez and Valentino Valdez were in the backseat. Defendant lost control of the car. It became airborne, flipped multiple times in the air, rolled on the ground, and finally stopped in a field. Valdez and Rodriguez were ejected as the car flipped in the air. When officers arrived at the scene, they found Lyon and Rodriguez were dead. Defendant and Valdez survived. Valdez was able to describe what happened. Defendant claimed he lost control because a bird hit the windshield. His blood-alcohol content was .08 percent based on a test taken two hours after he was driving. Charges Defendant, who had a previous conviction for driving under the influence, was charged with two counts of murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)) for the deaths of Lyon and Rodriguez. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on the murder charges and mistrials were declared on those counts. However, the jury convicted him of the other charged offenses: counts III and IV, gross vehicular manslaughter of Lyon and…