A 24-year-old professional boxer has been charged with three counts of intoxicated manslaughter following a car crash in El Paso on Dec. 19. He was previously arrested for DWI with a blood alcohol content level equal to or greater than .15 percent in April.
According to El Paso police, the defendant was driving southbound on Joe Battle in a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro with a male front seat passenger when he ran a red light at the intersection of Vista Del Sol at approximately 1:45 a.m. The Camaro broadsided a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am that was traveling east on Vista Del Sol. A male rear seat passenger in the Pontiac was ejected from the car, and both vehicles burst into flames. The 23-year-old male driver of the Pontiac and his female front seat passenger died at the scene. The ejected passenger was taken to Del Sol Medical Center where he later died.
The defendant allegedly told responding police officers that he had two shots of alcohol and five beers before the accident. Authorities said he refused to give a blood sample, but it was taken without his permission or a warrant. He is being held on a $300,000 bond.
Intoxicated manslaughter charges are extremely serious, and any individual facing such charges may wish to hire a criminal defense attorney to mount a DWI defense on their behalf. One possible defense strategy in a similar case could be to discredit test results if police failed to accurately maintain alcohol testing equipment or if blood samples were not handled properly by technicians.
Source: KVIA.com, “Affidavit: Joel Garcia admits to drinking at least 5 beers, 2 shots before crash that killed 3 people,” Leonard Martinez, Dec. 29, 2014
Source: KVIA, “24-year-old boxer charged with 3 counts of intoxicated manslaughter in fatal crash; arrested for DWI in April”, Leonard Martinez, December 24, 2014