Some time back I posted a story concerning a local case. Here is the final outcome:
Street racer guilty of murder
By Jim Guy / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Saturday, April 29, 2006, 5:19 AM)
A jury Friday convicted George Hernandez Batalla, 21, of second-degree murder for causing a crash during an illegal street race last summer that killed the daughter of a retired local auto racing legend.
Batalla, who was also convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter, could face a prison sentence of 15 years to life in prison. His attorney said during the trial that Batalla should not be treated as a killer, but after the verdict conceded the sentence would send a message to street racers.
Batalla's car collided with a Ford pickup driven by Diana Lynn Pombo-Covell, daughter of Al Pombo, as he was racing side by side with another driver on two-lane Fig Avenue on June 20.
Both cars ran a stop sign at Central Avenue. The other car, driven by Miguel Angel Silvas, 28, was racing in the wrong lane and made it through the intersection. Batalla's car struck Pombo-Covell's westbound pickup, pushing it in front of an eastbound Freightliner truck.
The pickup was destroyed and Pombo-Covell, the mother of two children, died at the scene.
After the collision, Batalla fled, leaving his injured brother, Omar Morales, in the damaged Pontiac Grand Am. Batalla was later arrested at Madera Community Hospital, where he was receiving treatment for injuries.
Silvas made a U-turn and checked out the collision scene before speeding away, court records indicate. His trial is pending.
"This was a test case for the District Attorney's Office," Batalla's attorney, Thomas J. Richardson, said in a statement Friday. "The district attorney wanted to send the message that street racers would be prosecuted to the maximum.
"In the past, I've represented a person who stabbed someone fifteen times, hit someone with a hammer eighteen times, slit the victim's throat and after a jury trial, this person ultimately got less time than Mr. Batalla will.
"Mr. Batalla did not even consider anyone would be injured when he was involved in this accident. He should have, but he didn't.
"If there is a good side to this, street racers will get the message, and there won't be another senseless death like this."
Street racer guilty of murder
By Jim Guy / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Saturday, April 29, 2006, 5:19 AM)
A jury Friday convicted George Hernandez Batalla, 21, of second-degree murder for causing a crash during an illegal street race last summer that killed the daughter of a retired local auto racing legend.
Batalla, who was also convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter, could face a prison sentence of 15 years to life in prison. His attorney said during the trial that Batalla should not be treated as a killer, but after the verdict conceded the sentence would send a message to street racers.
Batalla's car collided with a Ford pickup driven by Diana Lynn Pombo-Covell, daughter of Al Pombo, as he was racing side by side with another driver on two-lane Fig Avenue on June 20.
Both cars ran a stop sign at Central Avenue. The other car, driven by Miguel Angel Silvas, 28, was racing in the wrong lane and made it through the intersection. Batalla's car struck Pombo-Covell's westbound pickup, pushing it in front of an eastbound Freightliner truck.
The pickup was destroyed and Pombo-Covell, the mother of two children, died at the scene.
After the collision, Batalla fled, leaving his injured brother, Omar Morales, in the damaged Pontiac Grand Am. Batalla was later arrested at Madera Community Hospital, where he was receiving treatment for injuries.
Silvas made a U-turn and checked out the collision scene before speeding away, court records indicate. His trial is pending.
"This was a test case for the District Attorney's Office," Batalla's attorney, Thomas J. Richardson, said in a statement Friday. "The district attorney wanted to send the message that street racers would be prosecuted to the maximum.
"In the past, I've represented a person who stabbed someone fifteen times, hit someone with a hammer eighteen times, slit the victim's throat and after a jury trial, this person ultimately got less time than Mr. Batalla will.
"Mr. Batalla did not even consider anyone would be injured when he was involved in this accident. He should have, but he didn't.
"If there is a good side to this, street racers will get the message, and there won't be another senseless death like this."
