Latest News 2014 July Career DUI Offender On Trial for DUI and Murder

Career DUI Offender On Trial for DUI and Murder

The Fresno Bee has reported that a woman, who thought she had eaten and rested enough to abate the signs of drinking, is on trial in her third DUI case, this time involving murder.

Clovis resident P.V., 27, believed that she was sober enough to drive, according to her attorney. P.V. caused an accident that resulted in the death of F.W, 54, early in the morning on October 21, 2011 on Highway 168 nearest to Ashlan Avenue.

Charges filed against P.V. include murder, felony hit and run causing death, and driving on a suspended license. In July of the same year – three months before F.W.'s death – P.V. had been charged with DUI, hit and run, and driving on a suspended license.

If P.V. is convicted on the current murder charge, she could be sent to prison for 15 years to life. To get the conviction, it would be necessary to prove that P.V. drove with a conscious disregard to human life.

In the current trial, both sides agreed that P.V. drove with a blood alcohol content of 0.13 percent, which is well over the state's limit of 0.08 percent. She crashed into the back of F.W.'s Jeep Wrangler, which sent it down an embankment. The Jeep rolled several times and F.W. was killed.

P.V. left the scene of the accident. She was later picked up at Shaw Avenue.

The jury was told that P.V. has a history of DUI convictions. Beginning in 2006 when she pleaded guilty in Tulare County and in 2010 in Fresno County. The judges in both cases warned her that if she were to get another DUI and was responsible for a death, she would be charged with murder.

Another incident with the law, in August of 2010, P.V. was spotted speeding and was pulled over. Her breath smelled of alcohol, she slurred her speech, she didn't do well on a field sobriety test and was arrested. She was never charged. However the incident occurred 11 days after she had pleaded guilty to her second DUI.

The defense countered by stating the client was an alcoholic because she didn't feel loved by her stepfather and was molested by a babysitter. Hours before the crash she had been drinking in the Rainbow Ballroom in Fresno. A friend collected her and took her to a diner for a meal and coffee, in an attempt to sober up.

Over an hour later P.V. was driven back to the Rainbow Ballroom, and the 2 talked for a minimum of 30 minutes there. Finally the friend felt it was okay for P.V. to drive herself home.

The defense said, "She thought she was able to drive. She wasn't driving reckless. She wasn't running red lights or speeding…(F.W.'s) death was an act of negligence, not an act of murder."

Categories: Multiple DUI/DWI

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