(Photo courtesy of Rick McClure)
An Agua Dulce man pleaded no contest to gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence Tuesday.
Michael Blake Palazzola, 24, pleaded no contest to one felony count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and one felony count of driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage causing injury, said Los Angeles County District Attorney spokesperson Ricardo Santiago.
Palazzola is expected to be sentenced on December 15 and faces four years and eight months in prison, Santiago said.
Palazzola is accused of being under the influence when he crashed near Stevenson Ranch Parkway and Pico Canyon Road in Stevenson Ranch on Jan. 16, prosecutors said. The defendant was allegedly driving Steven Richard Kirk’s vehicle who was riding as a passenger and died as a result of the crash, prosecutors added.
Two women in the vehicle also were injured but survived.
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5 Comments
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Seriously? Four Years & Eight Months? That’s a Slap on the Wrist! He CHOSE to DRINK and Killed a Guy! Lemme’ guess, out for good behavior by 4th of July… so he can DUI again. He’s Lucky I’M NOT the Judge!
Hope he enjoys his time in prison. Doesn’t seem like nearly enough time.
He plead guilty to DUI… I think you can safely remove “allegedly” from your article.
What about the bodily injury to the other passengers? Why is he getting off easy?
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https://www.wklaw.com/gross-vehicular-manslaughter-punishments.html
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Court options at the time of sentencing
gross vehicular manslaughter sentencing – court options
The court has several options when determining gross vehicular manslaughter options in California.
If you are convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, the court has discretion in determining your punishment depending on the circumstances of your case. The court has the following options at time of sentencing:
Impose a prison sentence of 4, 6 or 10 years. Since this offense is a serious felony in California if you are sentenced to prison you must do 85% of the sentence before you can be released on parole.
Plus an additional sentence of 3 to 6 years if any surviving victim sustains great bodily injury
Impose a sentence of 15 years to life if you have a previous conviction under CA PC 191.5 or two prior DUI convictions
Place you on probation and impose a sentence of up to one year in county jail
Place you on probation and order you to do community service, a work release program and attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) classes
Place you on formal probation and assign you a probation officer