Drunken driver who killed three accepts plea deal
BY JASON KOTOWSKI, Californian staff writer jkotowski@bakersfield.com
An Arvin man who was driving with a blood alcohol content more than twice the legal limit in an April 2010 crash that killed three young women pleaded no contest Tuesday to three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Leonel Nunez Jr., 20, entered the plea to a stipulated 14-year prison sentence, said prosecutor Tiffany Organ-Bowles. Sentencing is scheduled for June 22.
David Torres, the attorney representing Nunez, said he believes the plea deal was a fair offer under the circumstances.
"There are never any winners in cases like this because everyone has lost a loved one," Torres said. "My client is extremely remorseful for what happened that particular evening."
Nunez has already served a year in jail, and Torres said he expects he'll serve at least six years in prison. He said Nunez will make a statement at sentencing.
Charges of DUI causing injury, DUI with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher causing injury and being a driver under 21 knowingly operating a vehicle carrying alcohol were dismissed.
Esmeralda Soriano, 20, Giselle Madrid, 17, and Marilupe Madrigal, 18, were killed when Nunez slammed into their vehicle on Weedpatch Highway. Organ-Bowles said they were on their way to a family party.
The young women were turning left in a 1997 Plymouth Breeze from Reynolds Avenue onto northbound Weedpatch Highway a few minutes before midnight April 17, the California Highway Patrol has reported. Nunez, along with passengers Vincent Alvarez and Ricardo Parra, was driving a 2000 Pontiac Trans Am southbound on Weedpatch Highway toward Lamont.
Nunez entered the northbound lane and crashed into the Plymouth. Soriano, Madrid and Madrigal were pronounced dead at the scene.
Alvarez and Parra suffered major injuries, and Nunez had a minor cut on his arm, the CHP reported.
Organ-Bowles said Nunez was driving with a blood alcohol content of .17, more than twice the state's legal limit of .08. Evidence and crash reconstruction show he was speeding at between 82 and 85 miles per hour at impact, she said.
The Plymouth had slowed to 17 mph to make the turn, but the crash sent the vehicle's speed to almost 100 mph, Organ-Bowles said.
As for Nunez accepting the plea deal, Organ-Bowles said "it's a step in the right direction for him to recognize that he would be facing significant time in prison."
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