Murder Convictions Upheld

An appeals court upheld second-degree murder convictions against a Laguna Beach physician who crashed his car while driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, killing a Mission Viejo couple and injuring three other passengers.

Ronald Joseph Allen, 35, who specialized in treating patients with AIDS, was convicted in December 1994 and sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for the July 1993 crash that claimed the lives of Mark and Noreen Minzey.

Allen had consumed five kinds of drugs washed down with alcohol when his car crashed into the Mission Viejo family returning from a Bobby Sox softball tournament, investigators said.

Allen is one of the few drivers in Orange County to be charged and convicted of second-degree murder for taking a life while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Prosecutors argued that the second-degree murder convictions were warranted because Allen’s medical background and two prior arrests made him aware of the risks of driving while impaired.

The 4th District Court of Appeals in Santa Ana agreed.

“By the time he killed the Minzeys, Allen had twice been involved in accidents when he used drugs and drove,” Justice Edward J. Wallin wrote in this week’s ruling.

The appellate court rejected Allen’s arguments that evidence of his prior drunk driving arrests and details about the victims’ injuries should have been excluded at trial.