Jurors Hear Debate Over the Degree of Doctor’s Blame : Courts: Attorneys argue whether man charged with deaths of a Mission Viejo couple in a car crash should be convicted of manslaughter or murder. Deliberations are expected to begin this morning.

Jurors deciding the fate of a doctor charged with causing a car crash that killed a Mission Viejo couple and critically injured their daughter and two others were asked Wednesday to place themselves in the defendant’s position and consider whether a murder conviction is too harsh a penalty to pay.

The Orange County Superior Court jury is expected to begin deliberations this morning to decide whether Dr. Ronald Allen, 32, is guilty of two counts of second-degree murder for driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol on July 11, 1993, when he crashed into another car, killing Mark and Noreen Minzey.

The Minzeys were on their way home after attending a daughter’s softball game when their car was struck head-on by Allen’s vehicle on Santiago Canyon Road. Noreen Minzey was 33 and Mark Minzey was 38.

The crash left their daughter Karie Minzey, now 12, critically injured. Two family friends who were in the car also were injured. All were wearing safety belts.

Most fatal crashes related to drugs or alcohol are charged as manslaughter cases. But the prosecution took the unusual step of seeking murder charges against Allen, arguing that his two prior arrests on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and his medical background made him well aware of the dangers of using drugs or alcohol and driving.

Assistant Deputy Public Defender Michael P. Giannini asked jurors to convict Allen on lesser charges of manslaughter, arguing that his client was suffering from clinical depression and struggling financially. He noted that Allen, just hours before the fatal crash, had found out his father had died of a heart attack.

In his closing argument, Giannini posed a hypothetical situation in which one of the jurors is drinking champagne with a boyfriend when the two begin arguing. Although she is drunk, she drives away before the fight turns violent.

If that juror caused a fatal crash, he asked, would murder be a just charge?

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Molko told jurors that Giannini was trying to simplify the evidence in the case. Molko said Giannini’s example overlooks Allen’s medical background and his repeated arrests on suspicion of drunk driving.

Molko said that even though Allen was grief-stricken over his father’s death, he must still take responsibility for his actions.

“Pressure doesn’t eliminate responsibility; grief is not an excuse,” said Molko, who likened Allen’s actions to waving a loaded gun at a crowd of people.

Giannini stressed that Allen has never been convicted of driving while intoxicated, although charges were pending at the time of the fatal crash, and asked jurors not to discriminate against Allen because of his medical background. Instead, he said, jurors should focus on Allen’s situation at the time of the crash.

“There are times when doctors are not carrying that satchel of wisdom,” he said.