The tow truck driver charged with vehicular manslaughter after
his tow truck slid into a Caltrans work site, killing a Gilroy man,
will wait until after the new year to stand trial.
The tow truck driver charged with vehicular manslaughter after his tow truck slid into a Caltrans work site, killing a Gilroy man, will wait until after the new year to stand trial.
Sean Merriman, 32, was part of a three-man Caltrans crew repairing potholes on U.S. 101 near Hellyer Avenue in San Jose, April 4, 2006, when a tow truck skidded on wet roads and crashed into the work site, killing him. The driver, Louis Estrada Vasquez, 44, and his then-employer, Ponzini’s Community Garage of Morgan Hill, face a civil suit brought on by the Merriman family, charging negligence. Attorneys for the plaintiff and defendant last met in August for a trial setting conference in the civil suit but the case was continued.
Vasquez has also been criminally charged by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office with vehicular manslaughter, a misdemeanor, and pleaded not guilty.
He could face up to one year in county jail if convicted, Deputy District Attorney Jeena Jiampetti said. Vasquez was scheduled to stand trial on Nov. 10 but the case was continued while the defense gathers more information about the crash site, Jiampetti said. The criminal trial was rescheduled for Jan. 20 in San Jose. She expects the trial to last more than a week, which is fairly long for a misdemeanor trial, she said.
