Gilroy – The driver who accidentally killed a Gilroy 5-year-old
pleaded no contest to charges of vehicular manslaughter Thursday,
changing her initial not-guilty plea.
Gilroy – The driver who accidentally killed a Gilroy 5-year-old pleaded no contest to charges of vehicular manslaughter Thursday, changing her initial not-guilty plea.
Robertina Franco, 49, gave her plea in English, even as an interpreter rapidly translated the judge’s questions into Spanish. A no-contest plea is equivalent to a guilty plea in criminal court, said Deputy District Attorney Amir Alem.
In June, the Gilroy woman ran over 5-year-old Brayan Trejo as she turned left onto 10th Street from Church Street. The boy was riding a scooter alongside his older brother Jesus in a crosswalk when Franco turned onto 10th Street, hitting the boy. Speaking to police, Franco said she didn’t see anyone in the crosswalk before she turned.
Witnesses who flagged her down on 10th Street said she was holding a long receipt in one hand and her cell phone in the other when she was stopped. According to Verizon records, cited in a police report, no calls were received to Franco’s phone around the time of the accident; two calls were made to Rosio Franco, her daughter, just after the accident. Detective Frank Bozzo concluded that Franco wasn’t using her phone at the time of the accident.
The case has divided Gilroy residents. Some demand jail time for Trejo’s death; others have expressed sympathy for Franco, whose “loving nature” was extolled by coworkers. Franco, a slight, curly-haired woman, appeared anxious as she sat in court Thursday, waiting to give her plea.
Pressure to prosecute and convict negligent drivers has grown in Gilroy after three pedestrians died in Gilroy in less than four months, two of them 5-year-old boys. In October, Julio Gonzalez, 5, died while crossing Welburn Avenue on the way to school. His death came within days of Norm Watenpaugh, an environmentalist who died crossing Wren Avenue, an hour after celebrating his 76th birthday. The deaths renewed attention to traffic safety in Gilroy, and to how errant drivers are punished.
A $7,500 warrant was issued for Franco’s arrest in August. She turned herself in and posted bail. The charge, vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail.
Franco’s changed plea is not unusual: most defendants enter a not guilty plea at arraignment, to allow attorneys time to study the case. At Thursday’s pre-trial conference, Franco waived her right to a trial. Her case will be referred to the probation department, where staff will prepare a report based in part on statements from the victim’s family to help guide her sentencing. Attorneys and the judge will receive the report Monday, March 26 at 9am. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
