Though a man's DUI defense attorney argued that the two people his client drove into and killed were at fault as they were drunk when they walked onto a roadway, it was the man that was found guilty of DUI, as reported by the El Paso Times.
A jury found E.B., 36, guilty on two counts of intoxicated manslaughter in regards to the deaths of the two pedestrians: A.G., 22, and O.F., 26.
The crash occurred on October 26, 2009 in the 1400 block of Lee Trevino.
E.B.'s family members, though filled with grief when the verdict was read, kept their dignity as they received E.B.'s kisses and he handed them his belongings before he was taken to jail.
However, after exiting the courtroom, E.B.'s mother was seen bursting into tears.
Theresa Caballero, one of E.B.'s defense attorneys, alleged that it was the negligence of the two victims, friends that had been consuming alcohol together, that led to their deaths.
Caballero also alleged that the two did not cross at a crosswalk, and had instead walked off of a median directly into oncoming traffic.
In her closing arguments Caballero told the jury, "They caused the accident, they contributed to it. They were where they shouldn't have been. Even if they were sober, they were still where they shouldn't have been. But they were not there because they were sober but because they were drunk, and they weren't thinking and they weren't looking."
Caballero's attestations angered many of A.G.'s family members sitting in the courtroom. One of A.G.'s family members commented, "It's about time" after hearing the guilty verdict.
Stuart Leeds, another one of E.B.'s attorneys, echoed Caballero's statements and told reporters, "I don't feel like justice was done. These cases involving deaths are the easiest cases for a prosecutor to win. The jury is prone to convict. I felt we had a real good legal issue on causation, but the verdict came back so fast that I don't think it was properly considered. They (jurors) couldn't get over the fact that there were two dead bodies."
E.B.'s blood alcohol percentage was 0.23 – well over the legal driving limit of 0.08 – A.G.'s was 0.24 and O.F.'s was 0.16.
A further allegation, made by Caballero, was that one of the jurors had been bullied into agreeing with the others. Three hours into the deliberation process, the judge was handed a note saying that there was one person out of 12 that felt that the prosecution had failed to "prove to me beyond a reasonable doubt" that E.B. was guilty.
The note further stated that the one juror was "being very difficult" and was "adamant" in not seeking a guilty verdict.
The defense attorneys wanted to call for a mistrial – due to a hung jury – however District Judge Patrick Garcia ordered the jury to continue with their deliberations.
Leeds commented, "We felt that the other 11 jurors were going to browbeat her until she reached a guilty verdict. And within an hour, they came back with a guilty verdict."
E.B. faces up to a 20-year prison sentence.
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