JUNE 2, 2015
William Daniel Cady, 26, wiped tears from his eyes as the jury's verdict was announced after a day of deliberations.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 10.
Deputy District Attorney Makenzie Harvey told jurors in her closing argument that Cady was warned by a judge three years before the Jan. 10, 2014, crash about the dangers of alcohol.
The defendant "thumbed his nose" at the judge, his parents, and friends who told him not to drink and drive, the prosecutor said. Cady told them, "You guys don't need to tell me what I already know," according to Harvey.
The prosecutor was referring to Superior Court Judge Melinda Lasater telling the defendant in 2011 to abstain from alcohol following a vandalism conviction in which he punched through a wall.
"You can't afford to have alcohol in your life," the judge told Cady then. "You're not to consume alcohol."
While Cady was on probation in the vandalism case, he totaled his Mustang in 2012 after drinking and driving too fast and crashing on a curved road, Harvey told the jury.
The prosecutor said the defendant made a number or choices the night of the fatal crash to drink and drive.
Cady's blood-alcohol content was somewhere between .10 and .18 percent at the time of the crash, which happened about 11:15 p.m., Harvey said.
She said Cady's consumption of alcohol and marijuana, also with his reckless, aggressive attitude, made for a "deadly combination" that night.
Harvey said the defendant was in a unique situation because he knew and had been warned about the dangers of drinking and driving.
One of Cady's passengers, Trevor Rodgers, testified that Cady was going too fast and sped up and laughed when all five passengers asked him to slow down just before he lost control of his SUV going an estimated 87-97 mph on the transition ramp from northbound Interstate 805 to westbound state Route 52.
"It must have felt nothing short of terrifying," the prosecutor said.
Harvey said the SUV flipped at least five times, and four passengers were ejected from the vehicle.
Taylor Bednarski, 29, and Shon Gilliam, 23, died at the scene. A third passenger, 35-year-old Jeffery Becker of Kern County, died in the crumpled SUV.
According to testimony, Cady and his five companions were drinking at one of their homes, then at the Sky Box sports bar in Clairemont in the hours before the crash.
After leaving Sky Box, one of the men bought whisky at a grocery store, then the group made its way to a second bar and were kicked out of that establishment for being too rowdy, according to testimony.
A bartender testified that the group of men were "all visibly wasted" an hour before the accident. Camilly Berardi said she offered to call a cab or car service to take Cady and his five friends home because she didn't want them on the road.
Cady's attorney, Rick Layon, told the jury that his client was guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter and DUI, but not guilty of murder.
Layon urged jurors to disregard testimony from Berardi and an officer who interviewed the surviving victims following the crash, saying they weren't credible.
Layon said Lasater's admonishment to Cady in 2011 did not put the defendant on notice about the dangers of drinking and driving.
In order to find Cady guilty of second-degree murder, jurors would have to find that the defendant didn't care what happened the night of the accident, Layon said.
Source: http://www.cbs8.com
Sentencing is scheduled for July 10.
Deputy District Attorney Makenzie Harvey told jurors in her closing argument that Cady was warned by a judge three years before the Jan. 10, 2014, crash about the dangers of alcohol.
The defendant "thumbed his nose" at the judge, his parents, and friends who told him not to drink and drive, the prosecutor said. Cady told them, "You guys don't need to tell me what I already know," according to Harvey.
The prosecutor was referring to Superior Court Judge Melinda Lasater telling the defendant in 2011 to abstain from alcohol following a vandalism conviction in which he punched through a wall.
"You can't afford to have alcohol in your life," the judge told Cady then. "You're not to consume alcohol."
While Cady was on probation in the vandalism case, he totaled his Mustang in 2012 after drinking and driving too fast and crashing on a curved road, Harvey told the jury.
The prosecutor said the defendant made a number or choices the night of the fatal crash to drink and drive.
Cady's blood-alcohol content was somewhere between .10 and .18 percent at the time of the crash, which happened about 11:15 p.m., Harvey said.
She said Cady's consumption of alcohol and marijuana, also with his reckless, aggressive attitude, made for a "deadly combination" that night.
Harvey said the defendant was in a unique situation because he knew and had been warned about the dangers of drinking and driving.
One of Cady's passengers, Trevor Rodgers, testified that Cady was going too fast and sped up and laughed when all five passengers asked him to slow down just before he lost control of his SUV going an estimated 87-97 mph on the transition ramp from northbound Interstate 805 to westbound state Route 52.
"It must have felt nothing short of terrifying," the prosecutor said.
Harvey said the SUV flipped at least five times, and four passengers were ejected from the vehicle.
Taylor Bednarski, 29, and Shon Gilliam, 23, died at the scene. A third passenger, 35-year-old Jeffery Becker of Kern County, died in the crumpled SUV.
According to testimony, Cady and his five companions were drinking at one of their homes, then at the Sky Box sports bar in Clairemont in the hours before the crash.
After leaving Sky Box, one of the men bought whisky at a grocery store, then the group made its way to a second bar and were kicked out of that establishment for being too rowdy, according to testimony.
A bartender testified that the group of men were "all visibly wasted" an hour before the accident. Camilly Berardi said she offered to call a cab or car service to take Cady and his five friends home because she didn't want them on the road.
Cady's attorney, Rick Layon, told the jury that his client was guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter and DUI, but not guilty of murder.
Layon urged jurors to disregard testimony from Berardi and an officer who interviewed the surviving victims following the crash, saying they weren't credible.
Layon said Lasater's admonishment to Cady in 2011 did not put the defendant on notice about the dangers of drinking and driving.
In order to find Cady guilty of second-degree murder, jurors would have to find that the defendant didn't care what happened the night of the accident, Layon said.
Source: http://www.cbs8.com
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DRIVER JAILED, CHARGED IN DEADLY DUI CRASH THAT KILLED 3.
THE FATAL CRASH HAPPENED JAN. 10 ALONG INTERSTATE 805 AND TOOK THE LIVES OF
THREE PASSENGERS RIDING IN THE DUI SUSPECT'S VEHICLE
The scene of the deadly crash on Jan. 10, 2014.
A man suspected of driving drunk in a horrific
crash that killed three of his passengers and injured several others on
Interstate 805 was booked into San Diego County Jail Tuesday, the California
High Patrol confirmed.
CHP officials said San Diego resident William
Cady, 25, was booked around 3:30 p.m. for his involvement in the fatal
collision that happened Friday night along northbound I-805 at westbound State
Route 52.
Driver ID'd in Deadly SUV Crash
There is new information about a crash near Clairemont that
left three people dead and five others injured. The California Highway Patrol
says the driver of the SUV, 25-year-old William Cady, was under the influence
of alcohol. NBC 7's Candice Nguyen reports. (Published Monday, Jan 13, 2014)
Cady is currently facing six charges, including three counts
of gross vehicular manslaughter plus charges of driving under the influence
causing great bodily injury. Cady is slated to appear in court Wednesday.
According to the CHP, the deadly crash happened at around
11:15 p.m. Friday when Cady – driving a 2000 Cadillac Escalade carrying five
passengers – lost
control along I-805 while merging onto SR-52.
Three people were killed and several others were injured in
a crash on I-805 in Clairemont. NBC 7's Diana Guevara reports. (Published
Saturday, Jan 11, 2014)
The SUV, believed to have been speeding at the time, veered
off the road and careened up an embankment, where the car then plowed into a
cement pillar and rolled over multiple times, ultimately
coming to a halt in traffic lanes.
From there, a chain
reaction-style collision followed, with a silver Acura crashing into the
SUV, CHP officials said. Moments later, another vehicle slammed into the Acura
then traveled down the embankment across both directions of traffic on
eastbound SR-52, eventually landing on the south side of the road. A third
vehicle was also involved in the chain reaction collisions.
CHP officials said five of the occupants of the Escalade
were not wearing their seatbelts, and four of them were ejected from the
vehicle. Two of the men ejected died at the scene.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner has identified those
victims as Taylor Bednarski, 29, and Shon Gilliam, 23, both of San Diego.
Another occupant, Jeffrey Becker, 35, who was wearing his
seatbelt, was also pronounced dead at the scene of the suspected DUI crash.
Cady was injured and was taken to a local hospital. He
remained hospitalized until the time of his booking on Tuesday.
The other passengers ejected from Cady’s vehicle – a
23-year-old man and 25-year-old man –sustained serious injuries and were also
transported to local hospitals.
Two occupants inside the other cars involved in the chain
reaction collision suffered minor injuries but are expected to make a full
recovery.
CHP officials issued a SigAlert following the accident,
shutting down I-805 at westbound SR-52 for hours as investigators worked to
help the injured, collect evidence and clear the scene.