Drunk Is Guilty of 2nd-Degree Murder in Crash

Jurors took two hours Tuesday to convict a Buena Park man of second-degree murder for driving drunk and causing a crash that claimed the life of a Fullerton mother returning from her child’s christening.

The Orange County Superior Court jury rejected a defense argument that Walter Romine, 53, who has three prior drunk-driving convictions, should be spared a guilty verdict because he was too drunk at the time of the crash and never intended to harm anyone.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan McNerney said the verdict sent an important message.

“It’s a sad reminder to everyone who drinks and drives,” he said. “If you drink and drive, you can kill people.”

Romine was driving a pickup truck near Commonwealth and Highland avenues in Fullerton on Dec. 29, 1996, when he barreled into a sedan, killing Martha Cecilia Limas and injuring her husband and two children.

The Limases were returning from the christening of their 2-year-old daughter, Vanessa.

Romine’s blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash was .23, almost three times the legal limit of .08, prosecutors said.

Romine faces a prison sentence of 19 years to life for the murder conviction when he is sentenced Nov. 21. He was also convicted of causing injuries while driving under the influence of alcohol and was found guilty of a misdemeanor count of driving without a license, which had been revoked because of his prior convictions.

Romine’s defense attorney disagreed with the verdict.

“Throughout all of this, [Romine] has been extremely remorseful,” defense attorney Philip Zalewski said. “The bottom line is that he was incapable of understanding the circumstances. He was too impaired due to the high level of alcohol.”

Romine has a history of drunk driving. He was barely coherent in 1988 when he ran a red light at 75 mph, nearly colliding into two cars, court records show.

That incident led to a drunk-driving conviction. After two additional drunk-driving convictions, the Department of Motor Vehicles revoked his license in 1991.

“The system did everything it reasonably could” to stop Romine, a former bartender, McNerney said.