People v. Anderson CA5

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Anderson was charged in an information with being an accessory after the fact to gross vehicular manslaughter (Pen. Code,1 §§ 32, 192, subd. (c)(1); count 1), hit and run resulting in death or serious injury to another person (Veh. Code, § 20001, subd. (b)(2); count 2), misdemeanor destruction of evidence (§ 135; count 3), and misdemeanor resisting or obstructing a peace officer (§ 148, subd. (a)(1); count 4). A jury convicted her as charged. The court suspended imposition of sentence and ordered her to serve a five-year period of probation under terms which included 10 months in jail.

FACTS

I. Prosecution’s case

On October 21, 2016, at around 4:27 p.m., Officer Joelle McChesney of the California Highway Patrol responded to a traffic collision on La Grange Road (Highway J-59) just north of Bonds Flat Road in Tuolumne County. On arrival, Officer McChesney saw a white Lexus SUV down an embankment on its side, and a white Toyota Camry stopped, straddling the northbound shoulder and lane. Both cars were severely damaged. Four people had been in the southbound Lexus. 16-year-old Trista Hoffman was driving, with her mother, Tina Hoffman, in the front…