WOODLAND — Both the prosecution and the defense rested their cases Wednesday in the trial of a Woodland man accused of causing a fatal hit-and-run collision in Davis last year.
Armando Arias Gonzalez Jr.’s case was expected to be in the jury’s hands by late morning today following closing arguments in Yolo Superior Court.
Jurors must decide whether Gonzalez, 40, should be convicted of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run charges in connection with a Feb. 1, 2014, collision on East Covell Boulevard that resulted in the death of 85-year-old Ruth “Darlene” Morales.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Gonzalez, who has a history of epilepsy, suffered a seizure while driving home from work that Saturday afternoon, causing him to rear-end Morales’ car at a high rate of speed, according to trial testimony. Morales was fatally injured after her car veered off the road and struck both a metal light pole and a tree.
The defendant’s vehicle then left the scene of that crash and caused a second collision at East Covell and Pole Line Road that left two people injured.
While Gonzalez’s attorney has called the incident a “tragic accident” and said his client had been cleared to drive by his doctors and the Department of Motor Vehicles, prosecutors say he should have known that his history of seizure-related accidents, even while taking medication, made him a risk to other motorists.
Witnesses testified during the trial that Gonzalez had been in four prior crashes due to his condition. Most resulted in property damage, though one in which Gonzalez struck a concrete wall left him with two broken legs and a head injury.
Before resting his case Wednesday, defense attorney Clemente Jimenez sought a dismissal of the hit-and-run charges, saying prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence to support the counts.
Jimenez noted that prosecutors claim Gonzalez suffered a seizure, yet also “had the wherewithal and presence of mind” to stop and render aid to Morales at the scene, he argued to Judge Paul Richardson outside the jury’s presence.
But Deputy District Attorney Amanda Zambor said Gonzalez was speaking and appeared coherent following the second crash, and therefore could have been conscious enough to deliberately leave the first collision scene.
Richardson left the charges intact, ruling there “is certainly room for the jury to consider alternative theories” in its deliberations.
Gonzalez also is charged with two counts of perjury, accused of withholding information about his epilepsy on DMV forms while seeking reinstatement of his driver’s license, which was twice suspended following his prior accidents.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene