May I assume the name had something to do with it?
Posted on 11/13/2006 6:56:40 AM PST by CedarDave
SANTA FE— A freeway collision that killed five members of a Las Vegas, N.M., family claimed a sixth victim Sunday— the drunken driver who hit them head-on.
A blood test drawn at the University of New Mexico hospital showed that driver Dana Papst had a blood-alcohol content of 0.32 percent, four times the state's presumed level of intoxication, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said.
Records show Papst had been arrested for DWI at least five times in Colorado, Solano said.
Papst, 44, of Tesuque, crashed into the Gonzales family's minivan shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday on I-25 just north of Santa Fe, Solano said. He died of internal injuries early Sunday.
The crash killed Paul Gonzales, 36; his wife, Renee Collins Gonzales, 39; their daughters Jacqueline Gonzales, 11, and Selena Gonzales, 10; and Paul's stepdaughter, Alicia Garcia, 17.
A sixth occupant of the minivan, Paul's other stepdaughter, Arissa Garcia, 15, is the crash's sole survivor. Arissa was recovering Sunday at St. Vincent Regional Medical Center from a broken left arm, fractured hip, and bruises to her head and chest— and from the loss of her three siblings, mother and stepfather.
~~snip~~
The Gonzaleses were on their way home from the Gaylord Sheppard Soccer Tournament at the Bernalillo Soccer Complex on Saturday. They stopped in Santa Fe for dinner before getting back on the highway and continuing toward their home in Las Vegas, according to Gary Collins, Renee Collins Gonzales' uncle .... Some of the daughters were supposed to have attended confirmation classes in Las Vegas on Sunday, Collins said.
About 5 a.m. Sunday, Solano said, a sheriff's deputy noticed a Chihuahua sitting uninjured under some of the wreckage. The dog, later identified as the Gonzaleses' family pet, Amor, had been sitting there unnoticed for roughly nine hours.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
LAS VEGAS, N.M.— Theirs was the all-American family.Paul Gonzales, 36, was an accountant who worked at his parents' home health care agency and volunteered his time as a coach for the Young American Basketball League.
His wife, Renee Collins Gonzales, 39, was a caring and cheerful nurse for the West Las Vegas school district during the day. She also moonlighted in the Alta Vista Regional Hospital emergency department.
Their four daughters were outgoing, did well in school and loved sports.
The family spent its last day together Saturday at a soccer tournament in Bernalillo, where Selena Gonzales, 10, and Jacqueline Gonzales, 11, played. They took Amor, their chihuahua puppy, along for the ride.
Before heading home to Las Vegas, they stopped in Santa Fe for some Chinese food and shopping at Santa Fe Place, formerly Villa Linda Mall.
Then, as they were beginning their roughly 60-mile trek home, their seemingly perfect lives were shattered by a man, driving in the wrong lanes of I-25, with an open container of Bud Lite in the cab of his pickup. His pickup struck the family's minivan, and Gonzales, Collins Gonzales, Selena Gonzales, Jacqueline Gonzales and Alicia Garcia, Gonzales' 17-year-old stepdaughter, died at the scene.
Alicia's sister Arissa Garcia, 15, survived and was transported to St. Vincent Regional Medical Center with broken bones. Amor, the family's puppy, also survived.
Horrible.
Prayers for the Gonzales family and the daughter who lived. She will need strength and comfort on a scale that I can not comprehend.
You are right - drunks will always be on the roadways. How terribly sad.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5140025,00.html
Hit-run tied to booze
Suspect in triple fatality was drunk, according to charges
By Julie Poppen, Rocky Mountain News November 13, 2006
The suspected driver of a pickup truck that slammed into a family of four, killing a mother and her two young children in a stroller, was drunk, according to charges announced in court Sunday.
Becca Bingham, 39, of Denver, and her two children, 4-year-old Macie and 2-year-old Garrison, were killed in the downtown hit-and-run crash Friday night that stunned the city.
The children's father and Becca's husband, Frank Bingham, 41, survived and was listed in fair condition Sunday at Denver Health Medical Center with bruises and nerve damage to his right arm.
Lawrence Trujillo, 36, appeared in court Sunday, wearing a rumpled pink polo shirt, to hear charges of three counts of vehicular homicide involving driving under the influence, four counts of vehicular assault while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident.
Bail was set at $250,000. Trujillo was ordered to abstain from alcohol and controlled substances and told he could not possess a weapon.
Bail was set at $25,000 for Eric Snell, 35, the passenger in the truck. He posted bond and was released Sunday. Jesse Wiens, Snell's attorney, said his client is under investigation for being an accessory to the crime.
Michelle Poissant, 37, of Fertile, Minn., is Trujillo's ex-wife. They divorced 15 years ago, she said, and their 17-year-old son lives with Trujillo.
Poissant said she was planning to come to Colorado this Friday to reconnect with the son she hasn't seen since he was 8. She said her son sent her a cryptic message on his My-Space account Saturday saying she should cancel her trip.
Poissant said she talked to Trujillo - who runs Professional Fire Protection Inc., a Westminster- based company that installs sprinkler systems - Friday morning while he was at work and that everything seemed fine.
Poissant said that Trujillo also has an 8-year-old daughter with his second wife and is now married a third time.
Witnesses told police the family was walking across Arapahoe Street in a crosswalk about 8:40 p.m. Friday at 15th Street when they were hit by a red 1997 Ford pickup with Trujillo's company information posted on the sides.
A mangled two-seat stroller and children's shoes littered the street after the accident.
The two children were transported to area hospitals and later died. The parents were transported to Denver Health Medical Center, where Becca Bingham was pronounced dead.
Denver Police Department spokesman Sonny Jackson said the truck was traveling at 30 to 40 mph at impact. A license plate found near the scene helped lead investigators to the suspects.
"That was an incredibly lucky break," Traffic Investigator Detective Tilo Voitel said Sunday.
Jackson said debris from the crash was strewn 30 to 100 feet along the street from the point of impact.
"We have talked to as many as 12 witnesses who saw what happened," Jackson said.
He said the two men drove to Westminster after the crash and ditched the truck a few blocks from Trujillo's home.
"We believe they knew they hit them," Jackson said. "They were aware they did strike the family."
The two men were arrested about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Jackson said. Snell was contacted and taken into custody for charges unrelated to the accident. Trujillo was arrested near his business in Westminster.
Officers are still investigating the accident, including trying to determine where the men had been drinking and how much they had, Voitel said.
That is a low amount of bail for three deaths and is in itself a travesty.
The attorneys who defend DUI charges know how to scam the system. They know every loophole and delaying tactic. Often the charge, if one is brought, is dismissed on a technicality.
Court's DWI Rulings a Blow to ProsecutorsCourt's DWI Rulings a Blow to ProsecutorsBy Jeff Proctor Journal Staff Writer
Four new decisions by the state Court of Appeals have prosecutors wondering what it will take to get breath-alcohol test results admitted as evidence in drunken driving cases.
The Appeals Court acknowledged that prosecutors followed state law in each of the four cases to get the breath tests admitted into evidence but said that wasn't enough.
Appeals Court Judge Lynn Pickard wrote in a special concurrence in one of the cases that the court hadn't explained what prosecutors must prove at trial to use the test results.
Deputy District Attorney Gary Cade, who oversees DWI cases in Metropolitan Court, said it's clear the Appeals Court wants something more, but he isn't sure what it is.
"Not knowing what is required makes it very, very difficult for us to use the breath (results) to prosecute cases," Case said. "These decisions have left us very confused."
And, no I have no specific answers. It seems endemic to the culture here.
May I assume the name had something to do with it?
Some is due to the attorneys knowing loopholes
The faithful dog sitting among the death of his whole family is the final, crushingly sad note to an extremely tragic account.
It's beginning to look like breathalizers built into the ignition lock need to become standard equipment on all vehicles. I hate to install more government control, but I want very much to prevent this sort of thing.
I just sat in the jury for a DUI. The defense lawyer looked like a drunk. Prosecutor was a sap. They know each other, and play out their sideshow over and over. The judge refused to answer my requests to clarify what it takes to convict.
In deliberation my fellow jurists didn't see a big difference between the defendants behavior and their own.
There are multiple web-sites given to beating the charges because of vague laws.
The election + Rumsfield + jury duty = just barf.
This woman (the drunk) will be back on the road, and you know the rest.......
Sorry, I don't have answers for you; I just read in the newspaper on almost a weekly basis, case dismissed, case continued, etc. You might do some research at these two sites:
http://www.madd.org/news/10974
http://www.madd.org/nm
Sorry, I don't have answers for you; I just read in the newspaper on almost a weekly basis, case dismissed, case continued, etc. You might do some research at these two sites:
http://www.madd.org/news/10974
http://www.madd.org/nm
The loonie ladies at MADD are the last ones I would trust on this issue. Why do you think their founder left?
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