Police Officer Acquitted in 2 Crash Deaths

In a case that attorneys say may have broad implications for drivers of emergency vehicles, a Westminster police officer was acquitted of vehicular manslaughter Tuesday in the deaths of two young women whose car he struck last Christmas Day.

A six-man, six-woman jury ruled that Thomas Richard, 23, was not negligent when he sped through an intersection at more than 80 m.p.h. in response to another officer’s distress call and plowed into a car driven by Jessica Warren, 19, of Stanton. Warren and her passenger, Dawn Hammond, 20, of Costa Mesa, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Hammond’s mother, Janet, burst into tears upon hearing the verdict and was consoled by her husband, Ken Hammond. Warren’s father, William, put his head in his hands.

Paul S. Meyer, Richard’s attorney, said a conviction would have prevented operators of emergency vehicles from performing their duties properly because of fear of litigation.

“Emergency drivers are not expected to see the future, only act responsibly in the present,” he said. “The law does not require a Monday morning quarterback view of the facts, but requires the jury to take into the consideration the stresses and strains of the moment in their evaluation of the emergency drivers conduct.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Charles Middleton said he was disappointed with the verdict. He said a conviction would not have affected the future performance of drivers of emergency vehicles. And he added: “Officers need to be aware of other vehicles and proceed with due caution. . . . I don’t think 84 miles per hour through that intersection showed any caution.”

Westminster Police Department officials declined to comment on the verdict because of a pending civil lawsuit filed by the families of the accident victims. But Bruce D. Praet, an attorney representing the city of Westminster, previously has said that a guilty verdict would have a “chilling effect” on police officers.

“Why should any police officer hustle on an emergency situation when in the back of his mind he’s considering that if he happens to become involved in a traffic collision, he could go to jail?” Praet said.

After Tuesday’s acquittal, Meyer said the case had been “a year of torture for everyone involved. . . . Nobody comes out of this happy . . . (but) we’re gratified with the jury’s verdict. It proves the law works.”

Middleton said that the “jury was not speaking for all juries” and added that he would “definitely” prosecute similar cases in the future.

The case was not a “pleasurable thing” to take to court, said Middleton, but if it served as a “learning experience for other patrol officers (to drive safer) it will have been worth it.”

Richard had been on the force about seven months when he followed his commander across the intersection with his sirens wailing and his lights flashing.

After the verdict, the victims’ parents declined comment. “This has been an emotional thing for them,” said John Nelson, the attorney who represents the Warren family in the pending civil lawsuit. “Mr. Warren is shocked and saddened by the whole thing. He relives this event daily. . . . It’s not going to be a happy Christmas for all of them,” he said.

Nelson said the verdict should not “adversely affect” the civil complaint.

Meyer said the Orange County district attorney’s office should never have filed charges against the officer. “This case would have had the same results in front of one or 100 juries.”

The evidence showed that Richard’s commander, Russell Silva, entered the intersection when the light was green, but when Richard entered the intersection it was yellow, Meyer said. Both were going about the same speed, he said.

Richard was forced to chose whether to slow down and run a red light or keep up his speed and cross the intersection, Meyer said.

“Richard was not operating his vehicle negligently,” he said.

Throughout the trial, the prosecution had argued that although emergency vehicles are allowed to exceed the speed limit, this does not absolve them of responsibility to exercise caution.

Mindie Motz-Villalobos, a member of the jury, said the jurors tended to blame the Westminster Police Department more than Richard. “The amount of training he received was not adequate,” she said.