CAMARILLO : Suspect in 2 Deaths Competent for Trial

A Camarillo man charged with killing two pedestrians while driving drunk was found competent to stand trial Friday after his attorney withdrew a claim that the defendant was mentally incapable of cooperating in his defense.

An Oct. 12 jury trial has been scheduled for Gary Scott Samaniego, 21, on two counts of vehicular manslaughter.

Witnesses have said Samaniego was driving at least 65 m.p.h. on Oxnard Boulevard in Oxnard when he ran a red light at Seventh Avenue, striking and killing Oxnard residents Baltazar Camacho Bojorquez, 37, and his nephew, Eleno Leyva Bojorquez, 20.

The two men were in a crosswalk when they were struck by Samaniego’s vehicle, witnesses said.

Superior Court Judge James M. McNally ordered a mental evaluation of Samaniego in July when attorney Richard Hanawalt presented a letter from a neurological surgeon who said the defendant was mentally incompetent to stand trial.

A psychologist who examined Samaniego at McNally’s request concluded he was able to stand trial, while a psychiatrist said he was not, attorneys said.

At Friday’s hearing, Hanawalt said his recent observations of Samaniego, as well as treatment the defendant has received in the last several weeks, prompted him to withdraw the claim that Samaniego was incompetent to stand trial.

McNally then ruled that Samaniego was competent. Samaniego remains free on bail pending the trial.