A driver in California, who confessed to hitting 75 sheriff’s recruits during their morning jog, resulting in one death and several severe injuries, has retracted his guilty plea. This occurred after he learned that his plea could lead to a year in prison.
The driver, Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez, 25, appeared to be on the verge of avoiding incarceration through a plea agreement until a judge in Los Angeles invalidated the deal upon hearing emotional testimonies from those affected by the 2022 incident.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Laura Walton informed Gutierrez that she would only accept a plea deal if it involved a year in county jail.
After the judge’s reaction, Gutierrez’s attorney argued that the judge’s behavior violated the terms of their agreement. Consequently, Gutierrez has withdrawn his confession, and the case is now set to go to trial.
Just a month prior, Gutierrez had pleaded guilty to a felony count of gross vehicular manslaughter along with nine counts of reckless driving that resulted in specific injuries. This agreement had previously suspended an eight-year prison sentence he faced.
Instead, he was meant to serve five years of probation, a deal that former Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva criticized as “an insult to the families of the deceased.”
Gutierrez’s lawyer, Alexandra Kazarian, claimed on Friday that her client might be dealing with an undiagnosed neurological issue and could have experienced a seizure during the crash. She further mentioned that Gutierrez often feels like he’s “asleep at the wheel.”
Witnesses reported that Gutierrez’s SUV was traveling at a speed of 30 to 40 miles per hour when it swerved into oncoming traffic and collided with the recruits, who were training at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Academy.
In total, 25 cadets were injured, with 10 suffering severe injuries and several losing limbs. Alejandro Martinez-Inzunza, one of the recruits, succumbed to his injuries eight months later.
Initially, Villanueva suggested that the crash might have been intentional, but investigators later found no evidence to support that notion.
Gutierrez is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on August 26.
