Judge Rules Woman Who Killed 2 With Ambulance Insane

A woman who stole an ambulance from an Anaheim hospital in February and rammed a compact car, killing two young men, was declared not guilty by reason of insanity Thursday.

The ruling by Orange County Superior Court Judge Nancy Stock means Rose Failla, 52, will be held at a mental hospital until she is found to be sane and not a threat to society.

“It was the proper outcome,” Deputy Public Defender Dolores Yost said. “It serves two purposes: It’s humane for Rose, and it provides the greatest protection for the community.”

The judge said she based her ruling on testimony that Failla has a 25-year history of mental illness, including a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, and was suffering delusions in the days before the crash.

According to testimony, Failla spoke of CIA conspiracies, hidden tunnels and fears that Adolf Hitler switched street lights to cause havoc. In the hours before the crash, Failla’s relatives tried to get Orange police and hospitals to help her, Yost said.

The day of the accident began when she was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange by relatives who said she was acting strangely. She ran out of the hospital because she feared a bomb was in the building, relatives said.

“It was all bizarre. She’s a 52-year-old woman, but she would sometimes act 5,” testified Susan Kopas, who lives in Orange and is married to Failla’s brother.

Later that day, Failla checked into Anaheim Memorial Medical Center but left before a doctor could see her.

Failla drove off in an ambulance that had the keys in it, ran a red light at the intersection of La Palma Avenue and Romneya Drive and hit the side of a Toyota Tercel, killing Brandon Tran, a 20-year-old Fullerton College student, and Michael Rebaza, 21, who attended Cal State Fullerton.

Tran and Rebaza had been friends since junior high school and were on their way to play pickup basketball at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove.

Rebaza’s father, Pedro, said he was still too anguished by his son’s death to discuss the verdict Thursday.

Before the sanity portion of the trial, Stock found Failla guilty of two counts of vehicular manslaughter and one of auto theft. Failla waived her right to a jury and allowed the judge to decide the case.

Since she has been at Orange County Jail, Failla has been prescribed several types of heavy medication, Yost said.

“She’s very sad and very disturbed by what happened,” Yost said. “She’s so upset. She’s afraid to reduce the medication for fear of having another episode.”

It’s considered unusual for an insanity defense to be successful in court. Judges and jurors have rejected the argument in several recent high-profile cases.