SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A state appeals court panel upheld the murder convictions Monday for a young man who drove under the influence and crashed his car onto Torrey Pines State Beach, killing two of his passengers and seriously injuring two others.
Christopher Ray Schmittel, 23, was found guilty by a San Diego jury of causing the deaths of Joshua Manzanares and Johnny Punzalan, both 19, by crashing a 2020 Subaru WRX through a metal guardrail on Torrey Pines Road on the night of April 25, 2022.
The car landed on the beach below, throwing Manzanares and Punzalan from the vehicle. They died at the scene, while Schmittel and two other passengers in the car were hospitalized with serious injuries.
Prosecutors say the car reached speeds of more than 120 mph just before the crash and Schmittel, who was 19 years old at the time, was driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
He was sentenced in 2024 to 32 years to life in state prison.
On appeal, Schmittel's attorneys contended the evidence was insufficient to find him guilty of murder because it wasn't shown that "he actually appreciated the risk involved at the time of the accident."
A three-justice panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled however that "Schmittel did appreciate the risks of his actions, and decided to drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol and in a manner dangerous to life anyway."
The justices wrote that Schmittel had experience working at drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation centers and had advised a friend against drinking and driving two weeks before the fatal crash.
The panel also wrote that Schmittel testified at trial that he was aware some of his driving maneuvers were dangerous, including that he drove at high speeds and weaved into oncoming traffic lanes.
Schmittel's attorneys also argued that the two murder sentences of 15 years to life each should have been imposed concurrently rather than consecutively. Along with 30 years to life for murder, Superior Court Judge Lisa Rodriguez imposed a consecutive two-year prison term for DUI causing injury for one of his passengers who was wounded in the crash.
The appellate panel wrote that Rodriguez's rationale for imposing consecutive murder sentences -- because two separate victims were killed -- was valid and that Schmittel's attorney had not shown that "the court's reasoning was arbitrary or irrational."
RELATED COVERAGE:
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- Police: Speed and DUI caused the crash that killed two teenagers at Torrey Pines State Beach
- At least 2 teens killed in car crash on beach in Torrey Pines area of La Jolla
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