Robert Orabuena’s vehicular manslaughter case was back in court
this week, as the Gilroy resident was ordered to pay $48,000 in
restitution to the family of Joseph Judnick
– who was killed in a July 4 traffic collision in San Benito
County.
Robert Orabuena’s vehicular manslaughter case was back in court this week, as the Gilroy resident was ordered to pay $48,000 in restitution to the family of Joseph Judnick – who was killed in a July 4 traffic collision in San Benito County.
Convicted criminals are often ordered to pay restitution to compensate victims’ families. Such court orders have “all of the earmarks of a civil judgment,” according to Orabuena’s attorney Arthur Cantu.
In this case, the $48,000 was for lost income to the Judnick family from the time of the death to the sentencing in December, according to Cantu.
Orabuena was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter without negligence Nov. 7 and has since been serving out his one-year term at the San Benito County Jail.
He initially disputed the restitution payment, but eventually changed his mind and accepted the Probation Department’s proposal of $48,000, according to Cantu.
Cantu said they opposed the restitution because the prosecution initially didn’t provide “information to support that” amount. But shortly before a scheduled hearing Tuesday, prosecutor Denny Wei provided the necessary evidence, Cantu said.
On July 4, Orabuena, driving a van, turned onto Fairview Road off Spring Grove Road and hit Judnick, who was driving a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Orabuena was initially charged with second degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence – a felony. But in August, the murder charge was dropped and the manslaughter was reduced to a misdemeanor after test results showed Orabuena was not intoxicated or under the influence of marijuana during the crash.
At the outset of Tuesday’s hearing, Cantu requested that Judge Alan Hedegard take it off the court calendar – in essence, accepting the penalty, according to Cantu.
“Robert did not want to put the family through any stress of having to testify and coming to court to talk about the loss,” Cantu said.
He went on: “We wanted to do the right thing.”
Wei was also in court, along with Judnick’s wife, Janelle. Wei referred comment on the matter to District Attorney John Sarsfield, who did not return phone calls made to his office Wednesday.
