Arguments conclude in case against then-juvenile who allegedly killed parents in Redwood City street race

Their 9-year-old twin daughters, who were 7 at the time of the crash, were also in the car but miraculously survived.

“Grace Spiridon, Greg Ammen and [their daughters] were traveling through San Mateo County on El Camino Real, just like thousands of people do every day,” Assistant District Attorney Lucas King said. “[The daughters] lost their parents almost in an instant ... that happened because of Cesar. This is a murder case.”

But Morales’ defense attorney, Kevin Nowack, argued in court Thursday that the DA’s Office failed to meet the burden of proof required to convict on murder charges and said the case is textbook vehicular manslaughter conduct.

“The penal code defines what occurs in this case as vehicular manslaughter. That’s the starting point,” Nowack said.

Morales — who previously underwent a lengthy hearing to determine whether he would be tried as a juvenile or an adult, with the presiding judge deciding to try him as a juvenile — has been charged with two counts of second-degree malice murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter and four counts of engaging in a speed racing contest causing injury.

Harrison, Morales’ alleged racing partner, recently pleaded no contest to two counts of vehicular manslaughter and three felony counts and one misdemeanor count of engaging in a speed contest resulting in death. He has yet to be sentenced, but faces up to nine years and four months in state prison.

The DA’s Office offered Harrison a lesser plea after the determination that Morales would be tried as a juvenile, due in part to the sentencing discrepancies — Harrison, an adult, now faces more prison time than Morales, who is looking at up to six years, even if he’s convicted on the more serious murder charges. If Morales is convicted on vehicular manslaughter charges, he faces two to three years in prison.

Morales declined to take a plea deal from the DA’s Office.

During closing arguments, King sought to prove implied malice. Although Morales didn’t mean to hurt the couple, his understanding of how dangerous the act of racing could be and the intrinsically high probability of danger while participating in unlawful speeding made him liable for murder, King said.

He cited a speeding warning Morales had received the year prior for going 42 mph in a 30 mph zone, along with his driver’s education training and intimate understanding of, and interest in, the high-performance vehicle he drove.

Though he was egged on to race by Harrison, King said, ultimately, the dangerous behavior was Morales’ own choice and he was in possession of his faculties as he weaved through El Camino Real.

“He has to notice other cars. He’s not having an out-of-body experience,” he said. “He decided to race, and then he raced.”

However, the evidence that King presented only proved gross negligence — proof that a reasonable person would be aware of the risk of their behavior — and therefore only establishes vehicular manslaughter, Nowack said.

The murder charge requires a subjective awareness of a higher degree of risk and a wantonness to the behavior that Morales intrinsically did not possess as an adolescent with a developing brain scientifically less capable of assessing consequences, he said. Implied malice murder charges in vehicular collision cases are uncommon exceptions that have thus far only been successfully prosecuted against adults who displayed extreme levels of callousness and risk ignorance, according to Nowack.

He cited several examples of the Watson statute, which established the precedent for murder charges in certain vehicular homicide cases. One involved a man racing a tow truck whose brakes he knew were defective. In others, individuals were drunk or had previous DUIs and showed little remorse after the crime was committed.

“All Watson cases involved more aggravated facts and conduct,” Nowack said. “And all Watson cases involved adults.”

By contrast, Morales attempted to brake, was sober at the time of the crash, had no history of racing and demonstrated profound remorse after the fact, Nowack said.

While the facts of the crash could prove vehicular manslaughter, they also proved second-degree murder, King said, insisting that although it wasn’t the most aggravated situation possible, it still met the implied malice murder standard.

“Just because there’s something out there that is worse doesn’t mean [the charges] don’t match,” King said.

The judge will reach a verdict Nov. 20.