California: attorney for Shane McDonald who killed two in DUI crash says client is from Guam that doesn’t have freeways

Crash scene on I 15 where wrong way DUI driver Shane McDonald killed two people. Photo courtesy of NBC San Diego

Crash scene on I 15 where wrong way DUI driver Shane McDonald killed two people. Photo courtesy of NBC San Diego

The Guam Defense?

From Fox 5 San Diego
SAN DIEGO – The fate of a 21-year-old man accused of driving drunk when he slammed head-on into a car carrying a family of five, killing two, will now be up to a jury.

Shane MacDonald was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while driving drunk causing great injury.

California Highway Patrol investigators said MacDonald was driving in the wrong direction on southbound Interstate 15 near Scripps Ranch when he slammed into a car killing Rodolfo De La Torre, 55, and 84-year-old Teresa Hernandez.

The De La Torre family of Escondido was headed to the airport to go to a wedding in Mexico.

Julio De La Torre and his sister Carolina were in the mangled car and testified Thursday during the preliminary hearing…..MORE

 

From NBC San Diego

A 21-year-old man suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol when he slammed head-on into a car carrying a family of five on Interstate 15 was arraigned in the hospital Wednesday.

Shane McDonald, with his right leg and left wrist bandaged, pleaded not guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and five counts of felony DUI causing injury or death in connection with the May 2 wrong-way crash that killed two members of a family and injured three others near Scripps Ranch.

A judge set McDonald’s bail at $500,000. He is from Guam and was also ordered to surrender his passport and ordered not to drink or drive.

The defendant’s mother and father flew in from Guam following the deadly crash, and his mother was at his side during the hospital bed arraignment. ….MORE

 

 

From ABC 10 News

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. — 10/23/2015 – An alleged drunken driver accused of going the wrong way on Interstate 15 between Mira Mesa and Scripps Ranch, causing a head-on crash that killed two of five family members in the other car, was ordered Thursday to stand trial on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury.

Shane Gerald McDonald, 22, faces nearly 16 years in state prison if convicted, Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright said.

McDonald — who is out of custody on $500,000 bail — had his trial set for April.

RELATED: 2 people killed in fatal crash on the SB I-15 in Mira Mesa

Authorities said Rodolfo de la Torre, 55, and Teresa Esparza Hernandez, 84, both of Escondido, were killed when a black Audi driven by McDonald slammed into their Honda sedan about 3 a.m. on May 2, south of Mercy Road.

De la Torre was driving south in an I-15 express lane when the Audi, heading north in their lane, hit the Honda head-on, according to the California Highway Patrol. Three other family members in the back seat of the Honda suffered major injuries.

McDonald’s attorney, Cole Casey, argued to Superior Court Judge Kenneth So during a preliminary hearing that the defendant to be held to answer on charges of vehicular manslaughter with ordinary negligence, not gross negligence.

Casey said McDonald entered the express lane….MORE