People v. Zile CA4/1

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On the evening of July 9, 2019, Zile arrived at the home he shared with his girlfriend, April B. After the two of them ate dinner, they watched television and Zile ingested cocaine and drank Jack Daniels and Coke, and beer. Later that night, Zile said he was going to Apple Valley, where he had a lot of friends, and he wanted April to go with him. April refused to go, so Zile left by himself in his car around midnight. Around 1:00 a.m., on July 10, 2019, Zile was driving his car westbound on the 210 freeway at a high rate of speed when he “wiped out” and slammed into the back of a SUV at the Highland Avenue Exit. Zile got out of his car, looked “out of it,” and asked a witness, “What did I hit?” He smelled like alcohol and appeared drunk. He told another witness he was “f’d up,” and was “on a gang of shit.” He told a responding officer he had been drinking “tons” of rum and Coke or whiskey. Zile’s performance on field sobriety tests was consistent with someone who is intoxicated. His blood sample tested positive for cocaine and showed a blood alcohol level of .185 percent. Zile also said he was driving between 80 and 100 miles per hour, that he did…