Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : COURTS : Pusher Convicted, Faces Life Term in Drug Death
In court, Philip Alviso admitted selling cocaine to Phillip Mikolajek, 11 hours before Mikolajek suffered an overdose and fell into a coma.
And Wednesday, exactly four years after Mikolajek was declared brain dead, an Orange County judge convicted Alviso of second-degree murder.
Alviso, 28, an auto mechanic living in Stanton, could face a life sentence.
The murder conviction was the first in the state based solely on the sale of drugs, authorities said.
“One way to fight drug dealing is to send the message out that if you sell drugs and someone dies from your drugs, you are going to be prosecuted for murder and could go to prison for life,” said Thomas J. Borris, deputy district attorney.
Alviso had waived a jury trial, believing that finding an impartial panel would be difficult amid the anti-drug sentiment that is sweeping the country.
Alviso’s attorney said he would appeal the conviction by Superior Court Judge Phillip E. Cox.
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