The California legislature currently has a bill considering the legalization of recreational marijuana. Proponents of the proposed legislation point to the increased tax revenue it will bring. Opponents say that it will increase incidents of “driving while high” and motor vehicle accidents attributable to marijuana. Now the opponents have more ammunition.
On Thursday, June 9, a 19-year-old man pleaded no-contest to charges related to his involvement in a fatal car accident. The accident, which claimed three lives, occurred in North Hills. The driver was under the influence of marijuana and a benzodiazepine at the time of the accident.
Riley John Holman of Mission Hills entered the no-contest pleas to three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Additionally, he entered a no-contest plea to driving under the influence of a drug causing injury.
The accident, which occurred on August 9, 2015, involved Holman’s Jeep, which crashed into a Toyota Corolla near Roscoe Boulevard and Haskell Avenue. Inside the Corolla were the driver, Santos Benjamin Ordonez-Baquiax, 22 and his brother, Edgar Ordonez-Baquix, 20. Another passenger, Francis Olivas Oxlaj-Alvarez, 25, and another passenger were also in the car.
The two brothers and Oxlaj-Alvarez were all killed. The third, unnamed passenger suffered serious injuries as a result of the accident.
Holman faces up to 14 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for July 8 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
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