Thursday, June 21, 2007
San Diego DUI news: DUI - Drugs, Evading Police & Slaying
San Diego DUI news
June 20, 2007
CHULA VISTA, California – A Spring Valley man charged in the slaying of a 24-year-old woman will get no deals on unrelated charges of DUI - drugs and evading police, a prosecutor told a judge yesterday.
Under the three strikes law, Robert Steven Carson faces a prison term of 25 years to life if convicted of the driving charges because of his criminal record. Deputy District Attorney John Rice rejected efforts by Carson's lawyer, Nicholas DePento, to resolve the case without going to trial.
Carson, 40, a registered sex offender convicted of rape and assault to commit rape, has been charged with murder in the slaying of Brittany Hart of Santee, whose body was found Friday in the Cleveland National Forest. He has pleaded not guilty.
Mason set an Aug. 3 readiness hearing for Rice and DePento to discuss a possible settlement. If no agreement is reached then, the judge set an Aug. 16 hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for a trial on the driving charges.
Rice said the only settlement he will accept was if Carson pleads guilty to all charges.
Carson was charged with driving under the influence of drugs and evading police with reckless abandon in Coronado in November. He faces a preliminary hearing July 31 in El Cajon Superior Court in the Hart slaying case.
Carson was free on $50,000 bail on the driving charges when Hart disappeared May 24. The judge yesterday increased the bail on the DUI and evasion charges to $186,000, but said it was moot since Carson is being held without bail on the murder charge.
DePento told the judge that he was close to reaching a settlement with the District Attorney's Office on the driving charges when Carson was arrested in connection with Hart's slaying. DePento said he was awaiting completion of a psychological evaluation of Carson, which Judge Robert J. Trentacosta ordered as part of settlement talks on the DUI - drugs & evasion charges.
Because of graning more time, there has been a postponement of the hearing to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to try Carson on the DUI charges.
June 20, 2007
CHULA VISTA, California – A Spring Valley man charged in the slaying of a 24-year-old woman will get no deals on unrelated charges of DUI - drugs and evading police, a prosecutor told a judge yesterday.
Under the three strikes law, Robert Steven Carson faces a prison term of 25 years to life if convicted of the driving charges because of his criminal record. Deputy District Attorney John Rice rejected efforts by Carson's lawyer, Nicholas DePento, to resolve the case without going to trial.
Carson, 40, a registered sex offender convicted of rape and assault to commit rape, has been charged with murder in the slaying of Brittany Hart of Santee, whose body was found Friday in the Cleveland National Forest. He has pleaded not guilty.
Mason set an Aug. 3 readiness hearing for Rice and DePento to discuss a possible settlement. If no agreement is reached then, the judge set an Aug. 16 hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for a trial on the driving charges.
Rice said the only settlement he will accept was if Carson pleads guilty to all charges.
Carson was charged with driving under the influence of drugs and evading police with reckless abandon in Coronado in November. He faces a preliminary hearing July 31 in El Cajon Superior Court in the Hart slaying case.
Carson was free on $50,000 bail on the driving charges when Hart disappeared May 24. The judge yesterday increased the bail on the DUI and evasion charges to $186,000, but said it was moot since Carson is being held without bail on the murder charge.
DePento told the judge that he was close to reaching a settlement with the District Attorney's Office on the driving charges when Carson was arrested in connection with Hart's slaying. DePento said he was awaiting completion of a psychological evaluation of Carson, which Judge Robert J. Trentacosta ordered as part of settlement talks on the DUI - drugs & evasion charges.
Because of graning more time, there has been a postponement of the hearing to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to try Carson on the DUI charges.
# posted by SanDiegoDUI @ 7:46 AM 
| This website & linked blog is made available by this law firm for general information purposes only and to provide a general understanding of the law, not to provide legal advice. Readers of this website/blog are cautioned that reading the website/blog does not create a lawyer-client relationship between the reader and this law firm. |
