After pleading no contest to vehicular manslaughter in April,
22-year-old Mathew Engwall was sentenced Wednesday for the drunk
driving crash that killed his friend.
Hollister – After pleading no contest to vehicular manslaughter in April, 22-year-old Mathew Engwall was sentenced Wednesday for the drunk driving crash that killed his friend.
Facing four years and eight months in state prison, Engwall was sentenced Wednesday to 150 days in the San Benito County jail for the Jan. 2 car accident that killed Adam Baxter. The 1997 Ford Thunderbird Engwall was driving while intoxicated crashed into a ditch and Baxter was thrown through the windshield.
Engwall was also sentenced to 400 hours of community service, five years probation and nearly $3,000 in fines, according to court documents.
Engwall’s attorney Bud Landreth was pleased with the sentence and praised the objectivity of all parties involved in the emotional case. He said the Baxter family’s desire to see Engwall avoid hard prison time greatly influenced the decision.
“I am almost amazed at the objectivity of the probation department, the victim’s family and the district attorney’s office,” he said. “He (Engwall) pled and sentencing was up to the court.”
Kathleen Baxter, Adam’s mother, said on Wednesday that she had not heard what sentence Engwall received and had no comment.
At a preliminary hearing in April Engwall agreed to a plea of no contest to vehicular manslaughter after hearing testimony from the California Highway Patrol officer who arrived at the scene the night of the accident. Engwall and Landreth said they agreed to a plea so both Engwall and Baxter’s families could move forward.
“They were best friends,” Landreth said at the time. “It’s a plea, and he stood there like a man and said he did it. His main concern was his friend.”
As part of the plea, the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office dropped a charge of felony gross vehicular manslaughter and instead agreed to felony vehicular manslaughter. Engwall also pleaded no contest to driving under the influence causing injury and driving with a blood alcohol level above .20.
Baxter’s parents have supported Engwall since the accident.
In an letter to the court written in April, Bruce and Kathy Baxter asked that Engwall be spared from doing hard prison time and allow him to use this tragic experience to educate others on the dangers of drinking and driving.
“He (Engwall) made a horrible mistake, one that I am sure he will live with all his life,” the letter stated. “Give Matt the opportunity to teach. Give Matt the opportunity to live a productive life.”
The accident that killed Adam Baxter and changed the life of Mathew Engwall, both San Benito High School graduates, came just two years after SBHS graduates Paul Galvan and Mathew Lopez were killed when the car in which they were passengers flipped over. The driver of the car had been drinking and was driving recklessly. The deaths served as a wake-up call, alerting community members to the problem of drinking and driving in San Benito County.
“It started with (Paul) Galvan and (Mathew) Lopez,” Said Sheriff Curtis Hill. “Then with Adam Baxter, it was ‘okay, we got to keep working on this thing (drinking and driving).'”
Luke Roney covers politics and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
