A 30-year-old San Juan Capistrano woman has pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter in connection with a fatal Dana Point bicycle accident in 2007, according to a news report.
Michelle Stearns had been accused of DUI on Oct. 15, 2007 when she lost control of her BMW and crashed into a curb, traffic signal, power pole and power box before hitting Jose Barranco-Patino, 32, who was riding his bicycle home from work in Dana Point. Investigators from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said that Stearns had a blood-alcohol level of over twice the legal limit at the time of the accident.
Stearns reached on open plea agreement with prosecutors and will be sentenced in June.
If you or a loved one is involved in an accident that causes death or serious injury, call Callahan & Blaine, California’s Premier Litigation Firm. We are one of the leading catastrophic injury firms in the state of California. In fact, in the last five years alone our lawyers have obtained over $1.2 billion in verdicts and settlements, including a record breaking $50 Million settlement against the City of Dana Point, which has been certified as the largest personal injury settlement in the history of the United States. Callahan & Blaine has also recently obtained a $28 Million settlement for a driver who was hit by a runaway truck wheel on the freeway, a $7 million settlement for a bicyclist who was struck by a newspaper delivery truck, and a $7.25 million settlement for a man who was run over trying to board a city bus.
Our success in litigating and negotiating personal injury cases comes from our uncommon approach; we handle each personal injury case as though it were a complex business litigation case, attacking it from every angle possible. While our firm is located in Orange County, California, we handle serious personal injury, wrongful death and product liability cases nationwide.
If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of a bicycle accident, please contact our California law firm for expert legal counsel.
