Drunk Driver Gets 15 Years to Life in Deaths of Four

A drunk driver convicted of second-degree murder for the deaths of a Fullerton woman and her three children was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison Friday by an Orange County judge who rebuffed arguments that the driver was a “sacrificial lamb” being used to send a message.

Michael W. Reding, 28, of Fullerton was the first drunk driver in Orange County to be convicted of murder since the state Supreme Court ruled four years ago that prosecutors could seek such convictions. Until then, drunk drivers had been convicted of vehicular manslaughter at most.

But Superior Court Judge James L. Smith said Reding was not being singled out as a warning to the public.

“He is not a whipping boy who has been selected to make a point . . . he is not a sacrifice on an altar of justice,” Smith said from the bench. “His conduct was grossly reprehensible. . . .”

Killed in the 1984 crash in Fullerton were Pamela Trueblood, 36; Eric, 11; Kerry, 9, and Scott, 8. Two other children in the car, Brian Rector, 12, and Shawn Ratcliff, 2, were injured but survived.

The crash occurred after Reding tried to pass a car by driving onto a right-hand, dirt shoulder at a high speed. When he tried to return to the road, he lost control and veered across three lanes into the oncoming car driven by Mrs. Trueblood.

Two hours after the collision, Reding’s blood-alcohol level registered at .108, slightly above the .10 minimum for a California conviction for drunk driving. A minor amount of cocaine was also found in his system.

Just before the crash, Reding had consumed five beers and four vodka drinks at a Brea bar. He left after the bartender refused to serve him again and suggested he go home.

On Friday, as Robert F. Trueblood, 39, quietly talked to the judge about the family he lost, the courtroom was quiet except for the clicking of news cameras.

Empty House

“I would go home to an empty, quiet house,” he said. “I would sit down alone and read the letters from people in the community who had learned about what happened. Sometimes there would be 50 or 60 of them. I would read the letters until I fell asleep in a chair.”

Trueblood has since remarried and has a stepdaughter and a 4-month-old son. But his new family, he said, is not a replacement for his old one.

Trueblood was surrounded by friends from his church, the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, other family members and the parents of the two children who survived the crash.

On the other side of the courtroom sat Reding’s family and three of the jurors who convicted him.

The three jurors cited Reding’s lack of a previous record and asked for leniency.

Reding’s parents, Charles and Kathleen Reding, both said their son was devastated by the deaths.

Reding, who has been in custody since his conviction, sat quietly in court in a yellow Orange County Jail jumpsuit. He did not speak at the proceedings.

The judge sentenced Reding to 15 years to life on each of the four deaths but set them all to run concurrently. Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael A. Jacobs said he did not ask for consecutive sentences--a total of 60 years--because Reding had no criminal background.