SAN BERNARDINO: Cyclist’s death triggers little
jail time
RICHARD
BROOKS/STAFF PHOTO
Brett
Michael Morin awaits sentencing for the April 2010 vehicle manslaughter death
of 26-year-old profession bicyclist Jorge Alvarado in Highland.
BY RICHARD BROOKS
STAFF WRITER
Published: 03 October 2012 12:57 PM
A Text Size
A 20-year-old San Bernardino man drew
three years' probation -- but no additional jail time -- for his role in the
vehicular manslaughter death of a professional bicyclist in Highland.
“I would like to express how sorry I am
for the loss of your son and friend,” Brett Michael Morin told the audience
during his sentencing hearing Wednesday, Oct. 3, in San Bernardino Superior
Court. “No family should have to go through this. I wish with all my heart that
I could bring him back.
“This event has changed my life and has
reminded me of how very important it is to follow all the laws of the road.”
Morin and Patrick Michael Roraff of
Highland were 18-year-old Redlands East Valley High School students when their
driving killed 27-year-old Jorge Ivan Alvarado of Ontario on April 8, 2010,
along Greenspot Road.
The crash originally was described as
the result of street racing. But in court Wednesday, the incident was
characterized as reckless driving that began with Roraff driving up behind
Morin and moving into the on-coming lane to pass him, prompting Morin to block
the effort.
Morin also blocked what he may have
perceived as a second passing attempt by Roraff, who lost control, causing his
car to spin and slam into the bicyclist, according to Deputy District Attorney
William Lee.
Roraff and Morin got identical
sentences: 90 days in jail and three year’s probation. Roraff’s hearing was
held Aug. 6. With credit for time served, Morin was due to be released within
hours of his sentencing.
“We wanted prison,” Lee said after the
hearing.
However, prosecutors had no say in the
deal, because Morin pleaded guilty -- as charged -- directly to the judge in
return for a guarantee that he’d serve no more than a year in county jail.
In court, Lee urged Judge William
Jefferson Powell to impose the full one-year term.
Roraff is the driver who caused the
fatal injury, but it was Morin’s blocking maneuver that caused Roraff to lose
control, Lee argued.
“It’s not something you do on Greenspot
Road,” said Lee, referring to a road long notorious for street racing. “People
don’t care (about the consequences) until it’s too late.”
Defense attorney Stephen Levine argued
that Morin was driving no more than slightly above the speed limit and clearly
wasn’t street racing. In his written statement to the court, the victim’s
father got it right when he said that the death amounted to “imprudent actions
of the youngsters,” Levine emphasized.
The judge agreed.
A harsher sentence, the judge decided,
would compound the tragedy of Alvarado’s death.
Experts have determined that Morin
probably was traveling between 64 and 66 mph. And Morin’s driving didn’t rise
to a level that calls for prison or a long jail term, the judge said
Powell explained that he was seeking to
protect the public and hand down punishment for a tragic death without
destroying the life of a young man who has no prior criminal record and, whom
the judge said, has led an upright and productive life.
“I see no reason to destroy another
life when the life could be saved,” Powell concluded shortly before imposing
the 90-day jail term.
Minutes after the hearing, the victim’s
brother decried the decision as too lenient.
Said 31-year-old Luis Alvarado of
Ontario, “I believe the judge made a mistake.”
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