A drunken driver was sentenced this week to one year in jail and five years of formal probation for killing a jogger after swerving into the bike lane and hitting the victim. According to a press release from the Orange County District Attorney, Robert John Greaney, 23, Costa Mesa, pleaded guilty to the court to one felony count each of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated without gross negligence, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs with injury, and an infraction for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana by a driver with sentencing enhancement allegations for inflicting great bodily harm.
The People objected to the court offer, stating that the defendant deserved a state prison sentence based on Greaney’s blood alcohol content being at .15 percent at the time of the collision and that he also had two other intoxicating substances in his system.
At approximately 9:28 p.m. on June 12, 2014, Greaney was driving a Ford F-150 truck while intoxicated and traveling westbound on Pacific Coast Highway, west of Morning Canyon Drive in Newport Beach.
Greaney swerved his truck into the bike lane where 81-year-old victim Edward Salkin was jogging. The defendant crashed into the victim and killed him as a result of the impact.
The Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD) arrived at the scene and conducted a DUI evaluation. Once contacted by NBPD officers, the defendant displayed objective signs of intoxication including an impaired balance, slurred speech, and was emanating a strong smell of alcohol.
Greaney had a blood alcohol level of .15 percent at the time of the collision. Approximately two hours after the crash, the defendant had a blood alcohol level of .12 percent as well as significant levels of Xanax and marijuana in his system.
NBPD investigated this case.
Deputy District Attorney Stephen Cornwell of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.
Any parent or wife of such a victim would of course be outraged at this miscarriage of justice. But if the victim was not your relative, there is little more than a shrug given. Worse than this was the failure of the Orange County District Attorney to bring charges against the high school student in Irvine who drove up on the sidewalk while texting, killing a man and his wife who were walking to the gym to exercise. The DA also refused to prosecute the UCI administrator who left his infant son in the van during a sweltering day, killing him. Surely these were both cases of negligent manslaughter.