People v. Castillo CA2/6

BACKGROUND

Castillo drove a forklift home from work in reverse at maximum speed. A witness saw him turn from Stowell Road onto Philbric Road at an “unsafe speed,” “going pretty erratic,” “[s]werving,” and “crossing over” Philbric’s “center divider.” The witness “debat[ed] whether [to] call the police.” The Pozos family was traveling north on Philbric, within the speed limit and within their lane. Castillo saw their car coming but crossed over the double line, still in reverse, and accelerated left across their path. His 12,000 pound forklift hit their 3,000 pound car, killing two family members and injuring two others. A blood test established that Castillo had 110 nanograms per milliliter of methamphetamine in his system. Prosecution and defense experts disagreed whether it impaired his ability to drive. They agreed that, unlike alcohol levels, the level of methamphetamine in a person’s blood does not correlate to a particular level of impairment. The effects vary with the method of ingestion and the individual’s tolerance. They agreed methamphetamine can remain in the blood stream after its effects wear off. A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer arrived about 10 minutes…