Hollister
– Antoinette Soliz pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen
felonies stemming from a deadly crash on Highway 1 last month
during a hearing Thursday morning in Santa Cruz County Superior
Court.
Hollister – Antoinette Soliz pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen felonies stemming from a deadly crash on Highway 1 last month during a hearing Thursday morning in Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
Soliz, a 25-year-old Hollister resident, faces charges of vehicular manslaughter, seven felony counts of causing great bodily injury and five felony counts of child abuse.
She is accused of drunken driving in the crash that killed her 4-year-old daughter, Jasmine Arroyo, and seriously injured seven other people.
Wesley Schroeder, Soliz’s attorney, asked the court to defer the entry of a plea, but the request was denied, he said.
Schroeder will ask a judge to reduce Soliz’s $1.75 million bail at a hearing on Thursday, he said.
Although additional charges were filed against Soliz, Schroeder said he believes nothing changed in the case after his client was released on an original bail of $60,000.
“There wasn’t a change of circumstances of the facts,” Schroeder said.
The prosecution will oppose the motion, said Ariadne Symons, chief deputy district attorney of Santa Cruz County.
“(Soliz) has previous failures to appear in other cases,” Symons said. “So I think it is appropriate.”
Soliz failed to appear at a previous court date for a driving under the influence charge in San Jose, according to the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office.
The California Highway Patrol said Soliz was intoxicated when the 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe she was driving slammed into the center guardrail 10 miles south of Santa Cruz on Highway 1 on Jan. 29.
The vehicle was crowded with two other adults and seven children at the time of the crash, the CHP said.
Four of the children were not wearing seat belts, Santa Cruz area CHP Officer Grant Boles said. Three of those children, including Jasmine Arroyo, were Soliz’s. Her sons, 10-year-old Andrew Arroyo and 8-year-old Matthew Arroyo, were ejected during the crash and both were seriously injured.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Samuel Stevens allowed Soliz to attend Jasmine Arroyo’s funeral Saturday at Calvary Cemetery in Hollister accompanied by an armed escort.
“The family felt that the escorts provided by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department were excellent,” Schroeder said. “They gave her as much time as she needed. They were very respectful.”
Soliz faces up to 10 years in state prison if convicted of vehicular manslaughter, according to the California Penal Code.
A preliminary hearing, in which a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge will decide if there is enough evidence to try Soliz, is set for March 19.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or [email protected].
