Motorcyclist Gets 1-Year Sentence
A Rancho Bernardo man whose actions led to a fatal car accident was sentenced Tuesday to one year in County Jail.
The judge recommended placement in an honor camp for Omar Ulysses Martinez, 26, who pleaded no contest May 15 to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the Jan. 19, 1988, death of Donna Lovett, 23. Lovett died after her car was hit by a California Highway Patrol vehicle pursuing Martinez.
Martinez’s attorney, Jack Phillips, told San Diego Superior Court Judge Jesus Rodriguez that CHP Officer Robert Cobb began chasing Martinez and that Martinez, riding a motorcycle, evaded him.
The motorcyclist got away, but Cobb had recorded his license number and Martinez was eventually arrested and charged.
The judge also ordered Martinez to pay a $200 fine and left open the possibility of him paying burial costs to Lovett’s parents, who live on the East Coast.
Martinez was allowed to remain free until Tuesday on conditions of three years’ probation. The county sheriff must decide whether to place him in the honor camp.
The judge also signed a recommendation against deporting Martinez, who is from El Salvador but who has lived in this country since he was 5.
A wrongful-death suit against Martinez, Cobb and the state of California by Lovett’s parents was filed Dec. 5 and is pending.
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