CARLSBAD : Court Backs Term for Drunk Driver
A state Appeal Court Wednesday upheld the four-year prison term given to a hit-and-run drunk driver whose car struck and killed a Carlsbad father and daughter riding a tandem bicycle.
William J. Meiss, 52, of San Marcos, was sentenced properly for the July 30, 1990, deaths of Jerry Flaming, 48, and Brandi Flaming, 17, the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled.
Brandi Flaming had just moved to California from Iowa, to spend her senior year in high school with her father. They were hit from behind while riding on Carlsbad Boulevard.
Meiss tried to flee after his car struck the bike, but a witness chased him down and talked him into returning to the scene. He pleaded guilty to two counts of felony vehicular manslaughter.
On appeal, Justice Gilbert Nares said Meiss received a fair sentence. Justices Daniel Kremer and Charles Froehlich concurred.
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