Orange County DUI Lawyer Blog
In 2012, an Orange County woman, Sandra Hernandez, was camping with her family in North Dakota when a drunk driver ran over the family tent, killing her two young sons, ages 5 and 9. The driver who ran over the tent had four previous DUIs in California. Had he committed this crime in California, he would have been subject to the Watson law, and likely faced murder charges. But South Dakota had no similar law.
Following the tragedy of losing her only two children to a 4-time drunk driver, Ms. Hernandez and her husband initiated a campaign fighting for laws similar to the Watson murder law in all 50 states and lobbied the North Dakota legislature for tougher DUI laws. Her efforts were successful.
In 2013, Ms. Hernandez stood behind the North Dakota governor as he signed a bill with tougher DUI penalties. Just days after she stood behind the governor, Ms. Hernandez, while driving under the influence of alcohol in Grand Forks, North Dakota, lost control of her vehicle causing it to roll over. She was not injured, but she was charged with a misdemeanor DUI.
Ms. Hernandez went on to move to California and had had more children, a boy and a girl. Tragically, this woman who was an advocate for tougher DUI laws has now been charged with involuntary manslaughter after her 3-year-old daughter was found dead in Ms. Hernandez’s car. Ms. Hernandez was also in the car, passed out, with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.30%, almost four times over the legal limit of 0.08%. Her 5-year-old son was in school at the time she was discovered. The toddler died due to the excessive heat inside the car. The windows in the vehicle were rolled up and rescuers had to break the window to get to the toddler. The outside temperature was 104 degrees. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Ms. Hernandez has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony child abuse by the Orange County District Attorney. She faces up to 12 years incarceration if she is convicted on both counts.
Ms. Hernandez, despite the tragedy of a DUI driver killing her sons, has now caused the death of her own daughter due to her own alcohol abuse. This case illustrates how pernicious alcohol addiction can be. While we might have empathy for a mother who lost two sons to a drunk driver and we can speculate that such a tragedy could have exacerbated her own abuse of alcohol, it is important to remember that we have a choice. Tragedy often follows alcohol addiction and many of those tragedies happen when someone has had too much to drink gets behind the wheel.
Orange County DUI defense attorney William Weinberg is available to discuss your driving under the influence matter. He offers a complimentary consultation where he will review your case and advise you of your defense options. You may contact him at his Irvine office at 949-474-8008 or by emailing him at bill@williamweinberg.com.