Newport Beach Drunk Driver to Stand Trial for Death of Huntington Beach Entrepreneur
Sep 21, 2009 Auto & Car Crashes, Drunk Driving, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death - Murder
Charles Lewis Jr., co-founder of a martial arts clothing company in Huntington Beach, was killed in a fatal accident that was allegedly caused by Jeffrey Kirby, a Costa Mesa resident, who was driving while intoxicated. Kirby will stand trial in the death, charged with gross vehicular manslaughter.
According to prosecutors in the case, Lewis was driving on Jamboree Road in his Ferrari, when he was struck by Kirby’s Porsche which caused the Ferrari to crash into a light pole and break in to two pieces. Mr. Lewis died at the scene, and the passenger who was riding in his car was ejected, suffering injuries. Kirby fled the scene of the crime, but has since admitted to police that he was speeding in an attempt to catch up with Lewis’ Ferrari, which he wanted the passengers riding with him to have a look at.
Kirby had two previous convictions for driving while drunk, and blood alcohol tests that were conducted a couple of hours after this crash indicated his BAC level to be .13. Kirby had been drinking prior to the crash at bars in Sang Juan Capistrano and Irvine according to evidence investigators collected from his wallet. Kirby has been denied the chance to plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter, and attorneys for him put blame for the accident on Lewis.
Over the last few years, California has been successful in decreasing the rate of drunk driving accident fatalities, but would still like to take further measures to see those rates drop further. The recent Labor Day holiday weekend brought out law enforcement in droves, in an effort to crackdown on drunk driving offenders. Still, in Orange County alone, 73 drunk drivers were arrested by the California Highway Patrol, which is a slight increase over last years number of 67. The bright news in the midst of all of the bad is that no fatal traffic accidents occurred in Orange County over the holiday weekend.
Ten people were killed over the holiday weekend in California, although it is not known if, or how many of these, involved drunk driving accidents. If you are ever in a similar situation in California, consider contacting a Huntington Beach drunk driving accident lawyer. The California Highway Patrol has confirmed that about half of the fatalities that did occur were in those who were not wearing seat belts.
The Reeves Law Group has numerous locations across California and is dedicated to representing personal injury victims and victims of drunk driving accidents. Contact us for a free consultation at (800)644-8000.
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