Driver Sentenced to 15 Years to Life for Killing Bicyclist

An Anaheim man was sentenced to 15 years to life Friday for second-degree murder for the death of a bicyclist he hit while fleeing from police during a chase.

Superior Court Judge James R. Ross cited Patrick E. Conally’s extensive record of traffic violations and said:

“Mr. Connally evidently doesn’t believe the law applies to him.”

Connally, 25, a former perfume salesman, showed little emotion and only said, “Bye, mom” to his mother as he was led from the courtroom.

Connally had been cited for speeding the night of April 7, 1987. But 30 minutes later, in a separate speeding incident, he led police on a chase through central county streets. During the pursuit, Connally fatally struck 19-year-old bicyclist Cesilio Ortega Roman of Anaheim, who was heading home from work at a restaurant.

Legally Drunk

Connally’s blood-alcohol level at the time was slightly above the 0.10% necessary to be considered legally drunk in California, according to the prosecution.

Court testimony also revealed that Connally had twice been cited for reckless driving in separate incidents in 1981 and 1982 that involved police chases. He also had numerous citations for lesser traffic violations.

Connally’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jeff Lund, sought a sentence based on a lesser charge of gross vehicular manslaughter, which calls for a maximum sentence of 10 years and would have given Connally a chance of parole within five years.

Under the sentence Ross pronounced Friday, Connally would not be eligible for parole for at least 10 years.

“To put him in a high-security system would be a terrible waste of a life,” Lund pleaded with the judge.

Given Up Drugs

The public defender also argued that Connally had given up alcohol and drugs, which, he said, had been the basis of his client’s problems. The defendant took the stand Friday before sentencing and said he was sorry about the accident that killed Roman.

“I’ve turned my life around,” he said. “I’m sorry that it took this unfortunate accident to turn my life around.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeoffrey L. Robinson, who chose to prosecute on murder charges because, he said, Connally’s conduct had been reckless, said it was the defendant’s “selfish interest” that caused Roman’s death.

“If there was a vehicular case that amounted to second-degree murder, this was it,” Robinson said after the sentencing.