San Diego DUI criminal defense attorney news

May 30, 2008 14:41 hours

A San Diego county man pleaded guilty May 21 to running down a female cyclist in Solana Beach while San Diego DUI - under the influence of alcohol.

Brian Stephen Carnes, 42, pleaded guilty to a single count of hit-and-run with death and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, both felonies, stemming from the March 16, 2007, death of Jeannie Franklin, San Diego DUI attorneys understand.

In lieu of his San Diego DUI plea, Carnes faces up to 16 years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 22.

Franklin, who had been wearing a helmet, was riding home on South Highway 101 in the bike lane from a Cardiff-by-the-Sea market when Carnes struck her. Authorities believe Carnes had a blood alcohol level of .26 at the time of the San Diego DUI incident.

According to San Diego DUI lawyer authorities, all the evidence in the roadway — bicycle and vehicle parts as well as scuffs and gouges in the road — were located inside the bike lane.

When Carnes was arrested a couple of hours after the 11:45 a.m. incident, San Diego Sheriff’s Deputies found two pints, one empty and the other nearly finished, of 100 proof Yukon Jack in the driver’s cab of his Toyota 4Runner, two new headlights and carwash tokens, San Diego DUI court documents show.

Further San Diego DUI investigation revealed that at least one of the pints of liquor had been purchased earlier that morning just minutes after Carnes had gotten off work and that the new headlights were purchased just shortly after the accident.

Further, it appeared to deputies that Carnes’ SUV had just been washed, according to San Diego DUI court records.

Carnes had been driving on a suspended license stemming from a 1997 DUI / driving under the influence conviction, according to San Diego DUI attorneys.

SanDiegoDrunkDrivingAttorney.net/blog