A jury found a 33-year-old Half Moon Bay woman guilty on three felony charges, including second-degree murder, for killing a bicyclist and seriously injuring two others in a July 2022 collision, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
The woman, Samantha Hartwell, had two prior drunk driving convictions and multiple convictions for driving on a suspended license.
A three-week jury trial laid out Hartwell’s killing of 60-year-old bicyclist Thomas Hampe when she swerved driving on Highway 1 near Stage Road. She knocked him down an embankment — where he died almost immediately and wasn’t found for hours — and seriously injured two other passengers driving a Subaru, striking them head-on.
Hartwell’s blood alcohol content was .18 at the time, Wagstaffe said.
A jury found her guilty of second-degree murder, felony drunk driving causing death and felony drunk driving causing great bodily injury. She faces 15 years to life in state prison.
“We’re extremely grateful to the jury that sat listening to this case over the past three weeks and we believe justice was served,” Wagstaffe said. “A potential life sentence is exactly what she deserves.”
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LittleFoot said:
Why not just post your own comment saying that, Rajiv?
Dirk van Ulden said:
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(1) comment
I am a local attorney and had a personal interest in following this trial. Steve Wagstaff incorrectly stated that Samantha Hartwell's blood alcohol content was .18. The Dep. D.A. stipulated that her BAC was less than .08 based on the S.M.Co.'s toxicologist test. The medical expert from Stanford U. explained that due to the passage of time from drinking to driving, the drinks from the morning was no longer in her body and the drinks consumed less than an hour before driving has not entered her system to raise her BAC above between .03 - .05. Her driving was admittedly reckless, but not directly due to alcohol impairment. Sad case for the victim's family and friends as well as for Ms. Hartwell's family and friends. the jury rushed to a decision, in less than one day. Defense counsel could have put on a stronger case. Ms. Hartwell was discouraged from testifying on her own behalf.
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