Texting driver gets four years in prison

SANTA ANA — A Costa Mesa man — who prosecutors say was “texting” just before his sport utility vehicle slammed into a pedestrian — was sentenced today to four years in state prison.

Martin Burt Kuehl, 42, was convicted Jan. 27 on one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in connection with the Aug. 29, 2008, death of Martha Ovalle.

Kuehl was westbound on Westcliff Drive when his sport utility vehicle struck Ovalle — who worked as a nanny and sent her earnings to her family — as she was crossing the street at Buckingham Lane.

The collision propelled the 32-year-old woman 72 feet, according to Deputy District Attorney Jason Baez. Ovalle died at the scene of blunt force injuries.

Kuehl was not exceeding the 35 mph speed limit, but apparently did not see the pedestrian while exchanging texts with a woman he was interested in dating, and ever braked, the prosecutor said.

“She happened to be walking in a crosswalk at the wrong place and the wrong time, and that’s because Mr. Kuehl was driving in a complete state of inattention,” Baez told jurors during the trial.

Kuehl’s cell records showed that between 7:58 a.m. and 8:27 a.m. that day, he sent four text messages and received three, Baez said. He received a text message at 8:25 a.m. and sent a reply two minutes later, right before 911 calls started pouring in about the accident at 8:31 a.m., according to the prosecutor.

Just before the accident, Kuehl idled at a green light for 10 seconds before a driver behind him honked, Baez said. Kuehl took a too-wide left turn onto Westcliff and then drifted back to the left lane before striking Ovalle, Baez said.

“We’re disappointed in the verdict,” Kuehl’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Adam Vining, said after the verdict, adding he planned to appeal.

Vining contended during the trial there was no evidence his client was texting immediately before the accident. He argued prosecutors based their case on “unreliable” timing of text messages with the sport utility vehicle’s Global Positioning System records.

However, testimony in the trial proved the text messages can be determined to the minute they were sent and that Global Positioning System records are only 14 seconds off real time, Baez said.

Vining also challenged the vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence charge, arguing his client was not driving erratically before the accident and was not drinking, on drugs or speeding.

Baez pointed out Kuehl had a clear view of the crosswalk and had about a football field’s distance and more than five seconds to notice Ovalle before he hit her.

“It was the duration of time he had to observe her and the amount of distance covered without looking up — that’s what differentiates this case from an accident in which someone looks down for a moment,” Baez said. “The conduct in this case is so much more dangerous. It’s just not the same as ordinary negligence.”

Kuehl admitted to Newport Beach police he never saw Ovalle, Baez said.

Kuehl was having a conversation by text message with a woman he had recently met through a dating Web site, Vining said.

This story was written and edited by The City News Service.

Tags: costa mesa, Deputy Public Defender Adam Vining, Jason Baez, Martha Ovalle, Martin Kuehl, newport beach police, texting, Westcliff Drive

This entry was posted on Friday, April 9th, 2010 at 4:53 pm and is filed under Courts-Crime, Local News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.