Valley Center
A wrongful-death lawsuit was filed in Superior Court on Thursday against former Deputy Dist. Atty. Charles Van Dusen, who pleaded guilty last December to vehicular manslaughter in the Sept. 2 drunk-driving crash in Valley Center that killed an Escondido woman.
The lawsuit was filed by Patricia F. Hodges, the sister and estate administrator for Carol Benson, the 45-year-old schoolteacher killed when her vehicle was struck head-on by Van Dusen on Cole Grade Road.
At the time of the crash, Van Dusen’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.18% by a breath analyzer and 0.20 by a blood test. A blood alcohol level of 0.10 is considered legally intoxicated.
Van Dusen, 37, who resigned as a prosecutor shortly after the accident, was sentenced to six years in state prison. The suit against him seeks unspecified damages on behalf of Benson’s estate.
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