In December of last year, as John Sales was driving with his children in Orange, a car in front of him stopped on the freeway. Sales stepped on his breaks last minute to avoid a collision with the car in front of him. A car behind him, driven by Owen Kitchen, failed to see that Sales had hit his breaks and crashed right into Sales’ car. Kitchen’s car then caught on fire so Sales and a nearby officer got the kids out of the car as fast as they could. The kids were badly injured from the collision and were taken to the hospital to be checked out. Sophia Sales, Sales’ 2-year-old daughter died from her injuries.
This week, Owen Kitchen was charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and possession of marijuana, although he was not under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash. The reason that this charge is just a misdemeanor is because it was done carelessly and negligently. The charge would have been a felony if there was gross negligence in that he knew that acting in this way would cause death. Clearly, this was just an accident and if he is convicted of both charges, he should not face more than 1 year in jail.
Whether you live in Tustin, Aliso Viejo or Anaheim Hills, if you are charged with manslaughter, call an experienced OC criminal defense attorney to assist you.
If you want to know more about manslaughter, or your own charges, call Orange County criminal defense attorney William Weinberg @ 949.474.8008 in his Irvine office.