A Santa Maria Public Airport District board member charged in connection with a fatal crash involving a heavy-duty forklift he was driving made his first appearance in the criminal case in Santa Barbara County Superior Court on Wednesday morning.
David Ernest Baskett, 81, did not enter a plea during the brief arraignment hearing before Judge John McGregor in Santa Maria.
Baskett has been charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in connection with the crash that killed Tiffany Ann Peterson, 39, of Orcutt was on the afternoon of May 2.
She was a passenger in a small truck driven by her father on Skyway Drive when it struck the tines of the rented telehandler, or telescoping forklift, driven by Baskett, who was stopped on Hangar Street near the airport.
Baskett serves as elected official on both the airport board and the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District board. Officials for both agencies have said he was not acting in his capacity for either role at the time of the crash.
The criminal complaint noted the death occurred while Baskett was “driving a vehicle in the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony, but without gross negligence; and while driving a vehicle in the commission of a lawful act which might have produced death, in an unlawful manner, but without gross negligence.”
The District Attorney’s Office filed the criminal charge in early August, sending Baskett a letter to show up in court Wednesday for an arraignment hearing.
Since Baskett did not enter a plea, the judge continued the case in further arraignment status to 8:30 a.m. Sept. 24 in Department 3, where most misdemeanor cases are heard.
He was released on his own recognizance.
Family members of Peterson were in court Wednesday morning and provided a written statement to the judge.
In the statement, the Peterson family asked that Baskett not be allowed to plead no contest to the charge, noting he first tried to blame Charles Peterson “and then, when that fell on deaf ears, he tried to blame the airport.”
They also noted he has made repeated statements that police had determined he was not responsible for any wrongdoing.
“Every time he makes these false claims, there has been calls to us asking why? And how can this be? This has been a nightmare and very distressing to our family,” the statement from Charles, Pamela and Steven Peterson said.
They asked for justice for Tiffany Ann Peterson’s death, calling for Baskett to take responsibility for his actions — “And not shirk his responsibilities as he has done so many times in his past.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Madison Whitmore is leading the prosecution team.
Sydney Bennett from the Santa Barbara County Public Defender’s Office represented Baskett in the hearing.
As a misdemeanor, the maximum sentence Baskett could face is up to one year in jail.