Conviction of Driver Who Didn’t Stop for Deputy Is Overturned

A panel of Superior Court judges has overturned the conviction of former El Cajon resident Christina King, who declined to pull over on a dark, winding East County road and was charged with failing to follow a deputy sheriff’s command to stop.

Since the night of May 25, 1987, King, the 24-year-old daughter of a police officer, has explained that she was not trying to evade the deputy, but did not stop because the situation reminded her of the case of Craig Peyer, a former California Highway Patrol officer accused of strangling Cara Knott after stopping her along a secluded off-ramp on Interstate 15.

The October Municipal Court decision was reversed Monday by a panel of Superior Court judges--Laura Hammes, Zalman Scherer and Terry O’Rourke.

Deputy George Gardner, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, said the court’s decision, along with controversy about a proposed bill and the Craig Peyer case, has confused motorists and officers alike.

Bill Would Increase Penalties

A bill proposed in the state Legislature would increase penalties for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle.

“In the aftermath of all of this, all I can really say is that both officers and citizens are going to have to use some common sense to get through this gray area,” Gardner said. “We understand that the motorists might be a bit leery, but at the same time we have a job to do.”

In making their decision, the Superior Court judges strictly interpreted the vehicle code and determined that the sheriff’s deputy car that signaled King was not an emergency vehicle, according to Aaron Katz, deputy district attorney. Municipal Court decisions brought up for appeal are heard by the appellate division of the Superior Court, Katz said.

“The court determined in reading that section of the vehicle code that an emergency vehicle, for example, is one that is either in pursuit of a fleeing vehicle or en route to a fire,” Katz said. “They made a very strict interpretation of that section and did not view an officer making a traffic stop to fall under the parameters of an emergency vehicle.”

Katz said the decision had no wider application than this particular case.