Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : COURTS : Woman Acquitted of Manslaughter Charge

Her trial had been delayed two years, but last week, as angry courtroom spectators shouted that the verdict was unfair, Joan Wilkoff of Stanton was acquitted of vehicular manslaughter and felony drunk driving in an accident that caused the death of a teen-age girl and injuries to six other people. The jury instead found the 42-year-old woman guilty of misdemeanor drunk driving, for which she could receive up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine when sentenced Jan. 30, 1987.

Wilkoff was accused of trying to pass a car by going off the right shoulder on Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Aug. 18, 1983. By cutting back too quickly, prosecutors claim, she caused an accident that led to the death of 17-year-old Michelle Salle, who was driving the car in front of her. The chain-reaction crash that followed injured six others.

Her blood-alcohol content was tested by police at 0.19%, almost double the minimum amount needed to be declared legally under the influence. But Wilkoff claimed she was forced off the road and was not responsible for the accident. She did not testify, but Deputy Public Defender William Kelley said Wilkoff maintained that she was unaware of what had happened when she left the scene.

Kelley said some courtroom spectators were so upset by the verdict he was called “a liar” and “slime” in the hallway after the proceeding. The verdict came as no surprise to Judge Phillip E. Cox, however, who said later he believed that the prosecution’s case against Wilkoff was weak.

“It’s now just a simple drunk-driving case, and from the evidence I saw presented in court, that’s probably what it should be,” Cox said.

Wilkoff’s trial was delayed for two years while the state Supreme Court considered the original charges against her, which included one count of felony drunk driving for each of the six people injured. The Supreme Court eventually ruled that she could be charged with only one count of felony drunk driving.

Judge Cox also declared a mistrial at Wilkoff’s first trial after jurors split 7 to 5 in favor of convicting her of vehicular manslaughter and felony drunk driving. The jury did convict her of a misdemeanor count of hit-and-run driving.

Cox said eyewitnesses at her latest trial gave conflicting testimony and that a prosecution expert called in to re-create the accident made a poor witness. The defense had its own expert at both trials who said Wilkoff could not have caused the accident.

Wilkoff said before the jury verdict that she was sympathetic with the victim’s family, but that she was not responsible for what happened.

Because Wilkoff is a first-time offender, she is not expected to receive more than a fine. If she had been convicted on the felony charges, she could have been sent to prison for more than three years.