Drunk Driver Convicted in Death of Motorcyclist

A Newhall woman who had numerous drunk-driving arrests was found guilty Wednesday of vehicular manslaughter for driving drunk and causing a crash that killed a Canadian motorcyclist and injured his wife of one month.

But jurors acquitted Patricia Lee Giunta, 41, of gross vehicular manslaughter, a more serious charge for which she could have faced a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and eight months when combined with other charges. Instead, Giunta faces a maximum sentence of six years and eight months in prison when she is sentenced Dec. 13 in San Fernando Superior Court.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jacquelyn Lacey, who prosecuted Giunta, said she had mixed feelings about the verdict but said she is glad that Giunta will spend time in jail for the crash.

The Oct. 4, 1989, crash on the Golden State Freeway in Sun Valley left David Jaggs, 24, dead and his wife, Janine, 21, seriously injured. The couple had recently moved to Los Angeles to attend college, Lacey said.

Blood tests taken after the crash showed that Giunta had a 0.29% blood-alcohol level.

Giunta testified that she had consumed nearly a pint of vodka before the crash, but said she did not feel intoxicated when she entered the Tuxford Street on-ramp to the freeway and struck the motorcycle. She said the motorcycle cut her off, but Janine Jaggs testified that the motorcycle did not change lanes.

Lacey said that Giunta had been arrested four times for drunk driving before last fall’s crash and was arrested again for drunk driving while out on bail in the case. But she was convicted only once, in large part because she had claimed that police had lied in the other cases, Lacey said.

“You can only claim the cops lie so many times, and then you have to look at yourself,” Lacey told jurors after the verdict was read. “To get arrested only 30 days after” the fatal crash “made me angry at this woman.”

Jurors said they had difficulty understanding the meaning of gross vehicular manslaughter. To be convicted of the charge, a defendant must exhibit wanton disregard for human life.