Judge Orders the Release of Drunk Driver in Alley Death : Courts: Danny David Ornelas, who was found guilty twice of killing a mother of three, was released from prison Friday night because he had already served more than his two-year prison sentence.

Saying that he was compelled to act against “common sense,” an Orange County judge Friday ordered the release of a man who was tried and convicted twice for killing a Newport Beach woman in a drunk driving accident.

Danny David Ornelas, 21, was ordered released because he has already served more than the two-year sentence he received Friday. He walked out of the Orange County Jail to freedom at 10 p.m.

That determination followed his second conviction this week for the hit-and-run death of 37-year-old Debbie Killelea in September, 1988.

Ornelas originally was convicted in 1989 of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while intoxicated. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the maximum term permitted by law.

Prosecutors alleged that Ornelas, of Huntington Park, was joy-riding that Labor Day weekend, with a blood-alcohol level of 0.18--twice the current legal limit. He and several companions were drinking 151-proof rum and malt liquor, prosecutors said. They also charged that Ornelas was driving up to 45 m.p.h. in a 15-m.p.h. zone when he hit Killelea, who was walking with two of her three children in an alley.

However, an appellate court overturned the conviction, saying that Superior Court Judge Luis A. Cardenas erred by not giving jurors proper instructions about lesser offenses. In addition, the court disagreed with Cardenas’ reasons for giving Ornelas the maximum sentence. Cardenas had cited the defendant’s level of intoxication as one factor.

The district attorney’s office was allowed to refile charges against Ornelas.

On Tuesday, a second Superior Court jury convicted Ornelas of the lesser offense of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

In handing down the sentence Friday, Cardenas said the appeals court ruling prevented him from considering Ornelas’ level of intoxication as an aggravating factor in “a crime of great violence . . . even though my common sense led me to that conclusion. . . .

“My dilemma is a young mother lost her life here, and I think a judge feels under those circumstances that he should look very hard . . . to see if there are aggravating factors,” Cardenas said.

However, even if Cardenas had been able to sentence Ornelas to the maximum for the offense, four years, he acknowledged that he still would have had to release Ornelas, who has served more than that, when good time and other credits are factored in.

Killelea’s last seconds were captured on a chilling videotape inadvertently shot by Ornelas’ companion in the car. She is seen with her hands on her hips, apparently trying to get Ornelas to slow down.

Before the sentencing, Killelea’s brother, Michael R. Kilfoy of Costa Mesa, addressed the court on his family’s behalf.

“Debbie Killelea, with her two young sons, felt that was an unsafe condition that prevailed” when she saw Ornelas speeding down the alley, Kilfoy said. “Her intention wasn’t to become a martyr. Her intention wasn’t to be run over in the alley. Her intention wasn’t to be challenged by Danny Ornelas. . . . The last words that Deb Killelea said were, ‘Slow down!’ ”

Referring to the judge’s remarks, Kilfoy said, “I don’t think common sense is so common any more. If common sense prevailed, I doubt if we’d be here right now. Common sense didn’t prevail. The verdict that the (second) jury rendered . . . does a disservice to the officers on the street, to the judges behind the bench, to the public itself. I don’t think that verdict serves in the best interests of the community or the individuals within the community.”

Turning to Ornelas, Kilfoy said that “he’s going to have to live with the events of that day. He’s not going to be able to erase it from his memory. It’s going to be present every day.”

Elizabeth Quesada, Ornelas’ sister, said in response to Kilfoy, “Our family is not celebrating. . . . We are rejoicing because I believe that justice was done. But we are also saddened by this tragic accident.”