Garden Grove : No Verdict Reached in Manslaughter Trial

The manslaughter trial of a Garden Grove man with a lengthy record of drunken driving arrests ended Wednesday in a hung jury.

Samuel Pickering, 65, had been accused of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, as well as two counts of felony drunk driving, growing out of the Nov. 10, 1985, traffic death of 25-year-old Gregory Scott Sinclair.

Deputy Public Defender James Barnett said Pickering was convicted on the drunk driving charges, but the jury deadlocked on the manslaughter count with nine voting for gross negligence and three for ordinary negligence.

Another hearing has been scheduled for Friday to determine whether Pickering will be tried again for manslaughter, Barnett said. A sentencing date may be set on the other charges, he added.

Sinclair was fatally injured while he was riding his motorcycle on Beach Boulevard in Anaheim and collided with a vehicle driven by Pickering, who police said was driving on the wrong side of the divided street.

At the time of his arrest, investigators said, Pickering’s blood-alcohol level was measured at .32, more three times the level at which a driver in California is considered legally drunk.

Before the fatal accident and dating back to 1969, Pickering had been arrested seven times for drunk driving in Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties, according to court records.

He was convicted twice and paid fines, while charges in the four other cases were reduced through plea bargaining and again fines were levied. A seventh case is pending in Anaheim.