A Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge on Friday ruled there is significant evidence for the alleged intoxicated hit-and-run driver to stand trial in connection with a February collision in Goleta that claimed the lives of a husband and wife.
Eric Mauricio Ramirez-Aguilar, 40, was arrested after two pedestrians walking their dog along Cathedral Oaks Road in Goleta were struck and killed at about 5:15 p.m. on Feb. 9.
“A significant number of individuals who had seen the defendant in many different venues concluded that he had been drinking and was under the influence of alcohol” before the double-fatal traffic collision, Santa Barbara Judge James Herman said in holding Ramirez-Aguilar to answer to all four counts and special allegations at the end of the one-day preliminary hearing in a downtown Santa Barbara courtroom.
Adolfo Corral and Mary Jane Becerra Corral, both 44, suffered fatal injuries Feb. 9 when they were hit by a convertible vehicle — allegedly driven by Ramirez-Aguilar — while they walked along a bike path that parallels Cathedral Oaks Road east of Ellwood Ridge Road, near the western edge of Goleta.
Adolfo Corral died at the scene. Mary Jane Becerra Corral died shortly after being transported by an American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
Ramirez-Aguilar entered pleas of not guilty to the charges of felony manslaughter, DUI and other charges in February.
Deputy Public Defender Juan Higuera said that “what happened on Feb. 9 was tragic,” and he argued that there is no “reliable indication” his client was under the influence while behind the wheel of a blue Nissan 350Z convertible.
“This case is unique in that there is much documentation both in video and through witnesses,” Higuera said. “At all times (in the video) … he’s not weaving and he’s able to park in tight cramped areas.”
Until the incident occurred on Cathedral Oaks Road, Higuera said, “what we have is evidence of an individual, who was tired … who was out and about after having slept only two hours.”
“What that shows is ordinary negligence, not the gross negligence required in order to sustain and hold him to answer to counts one and two,” Higuera said. “The evidence as to his intoxication is all coming mostly from an odor and from the appearance of his eyes.”
Ramirez-Aguilar has been charged with two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, one count of hit-and-run causing death, and one count of driving under the influence causing great bodily injury. He also faces special allegations of fleeing the scene of a fatal collision and injuring multiple victims.
Several hours after the crash, Ramirez-Aguilar underwent a blood alcohol test. According to testimony on Friday, the results came back at .068% of alcohol and 23 nanograms of methamphetamine.
“There are indications of alcohol on board as well as meth on board that indicate he’s under the influence at the time of the collision,” Deputy District Attorney Kevin Weichbrod said. “Both victims in this case were killed due to the defendant’s actions.”
Judge Herman added that “it’s extraordinary” that a clerk at a 7-Eleven in Old Town Goleta had refused to let Ramirez-Aguilar purchase alcohol a few hours before the fatal collision.
The lead investigator in the case, a deputy from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, testified before the judge.
Deputy Rockwell Ellis, who interviewed the 7-Eleven employee, obtained a time-stamped surveillance video from inside the store that appeared to show Ramirez-Aguilar attempting to purchase alcohol and walking out empty-handed.
“She (clerk) said that he (Ramirez-Aguilar) had red, watery eyes, and had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage,” Ellis said.
The driver allegedly fled the scene on foot and was arrested more than three hours later in the Carpinteria area near the Casitas Pass Road exit on Highway 101.
On Friday, Ramirez-Aguilar was led into the courtroom, his hands cuffed together, as four relatives of the victims sat socially distanced in the public seating. Some of the family members wore white-colored T-shirts bearing the faces of the victims.
Ramirez-Aguilar wore civilian clothes, a face mask and a face shield because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Everyone in the courtroom wore face coverings over their mouths and noses.
A Spanish interpreter in court translated the more than four-hour court proceeding for Ramirez-Aguilar.
Ramirez-Aguilar sat straightforward at the defense table during the majority of the preliminary hearing. He turned his head slightly to listen to his defense attorney or when he observed photos taken of the crash site and other court exhibits on a large projector screen, which were presented by the prosecution team.
Weichbrod and Deputy District Attorney Michelle Mossembekker took turns questioning witnesses.
Several photographs of the crash site on the evening of Feb. 9 and the days following, aerial drone video captured by firefighters showing the stretch of Cathedral Oaks Road during the daytime, plus a Google Map pinpointing Ramirez-Aguilar’s locations on Feb. 9 and other video footage were presented at the preliminary hearing.
Sitting behind clear plastic barriers, several law enforcement witnesses took the stand.
A Santa Barbara County Superior Court staff member wiped down the witness stand, the microphone and the black-colored seat with a disinfecting wipe after the testimony of each person because of COVID-19 safety protocols.
Deputy Francesca Arnoldi said she responded to the fatal traffic collision. She saw two individuals — later identified as the Corrals — “who were on the ground.”
Arnoldi said she provided lifesaving measures to Adolfo Corral before fire personnel arrived on the scene.
“His face was gray,” Arnoldi said of Adolfo Corral. “I believe it was his left leg, was bent in a fashion that made me believe it was broken above the knee.”
There was “significant damage” to the vehicle, Arnoldi said.
Evidence at the scene after the incident suggested that after leaving the curving section of roadway, Ramirez-Aguilar’s car continued on the bike path and through the adjacent vegetation for at least 100 yards before coming to a stop, perpendicular to the roadway, against a chain-link fence.
Senior Deputy Jeffrey Farmer, a traffic collision investigator in Goleta and other contract cities in Santa Barbara County, arrived on the scene shortly after the incident. He said he observed “various pieces of vehicle debris and also debris from the pedestrians.”
Losing clothing worn at the time of an accident and other items are “common in collisions when pedestrians are flipped,” Farmer said.
Weichbrod asked, “Did you ever see, in terms of your investigation of the scene, any indication of braking by the vehicle?”
“No,” Farmer responded.
After holding Ramirez-Aguilar to answer to the charges and special allegation, the judge ordered the defendant, who remained in custody at the Santa Barbara County Southern Branch Jail as of Saturday, to return to the Santa Barbara court for arraignment in January.
Higuera, who is representing Ramirez-Aguilar, said that “there’s a number of items of evidence we are still looking for.”
A community vigil was held for the couple shortly after the incident near the crash site, and hundreds also gathered for a memorial held at Santa Barbara City College.
Mary Jane Becerra Corral worked as a computer specialist for the Goleta Union School District, and Adolfo Corral was employed at SBCC as the equity, diversity and cultural competency coordinator. The couple leave behind four children and a large extended family.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department asked the public to provide information about the collision in Goleta.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
