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The now 19-year-old Redwood City man who caused the deaths of two in a fatal speed racing contest has been found responsible for two counts of vehicular manslaughter, Judge Susan Etezadi ruled.
Because Etezadi decided earlier in the case that the man, Cesar Morales, should be tried as a juvenile, the ruling means in practice that Morales can only be held until his 21st birthday, Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
Morales will be sentenced Jan. 16, on his 20th birthday, Wagstaffe said. Though the technical maximum for the charges he faces is nine years 10 months, he will only able to be held for one year. He has credit for time already served.
Morales was also found responsible for three felony counts of engaging in a speed contest and one count of misdemeanor speed contest, Wagstaffe said.
Morales was 17 when he raced then 23-year old Kyle Harrison on El Camino Real in Redwood City in November 2022, T-boning a car and killing Greg Ammen, 44, and Grace Spiridon, 42. Morales was going between 92 to 117 mph at the time of the crash, per a California Highway Patrol analysis, and potentially even faster per expert review.
Their 9-year-old twin daughters, who were 7 at the time of the crash, were also in the car but miraculously survived.
The District Attorney’s Office had argued during one-day trial arguments that Morales should be found responsible for two counts of second-degree murder because of implied malice, or his understanding of how dangerous the act of racing could be and its intrinsically high probability of danger.
“Judge Etezadi’s decision is one we do not agree with, however, it is not an unreasonable decision under the facts,” Wagstaffe said. “We believe he committed two counts of second-degree murder. We respect the system, the judge gets to make that call.”
Morales’ lawyer, Kevin Nowack, argued 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 judge made the correct decision based on the law and I stand by the court’s ruling that this was not second-degree murder,” Nowack said in a statement.
Harrison, Morales’ racing partner, 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 will be sentenced Dec. 2 and 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.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 105
Daily Journal staff
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Dirk van Ulden said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
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(1) comment
Well folks, we now know a penalty in San Mateo County for killing two people and leaving two kids orphaned. A failure of the justice system or a failure of San Mateo County, or both. I doubt this will have much of a chilling effect on juveniles opting to race in our streets. In fact, it may have the opposite effect, encouragement. As always, you get the government you voted for.
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