The attorney for Robert Orabuena will attempt to have
second-degree murder charges dropped today based on test results
that show the Gilroy man was not under the influence of drugs or
alcohol at the time of a fatal motorcycle accident on July 4.
Local defense attorney Arthur Cantu will file a motion with the
San Benito County Superior Court to have Orabuena released without
bail and to ask the court to dismiss the charges of second-degree
murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
The attorney for Robert Orabuena will attempt to have second-degree murder charges dropped today based on test results that show the Gilroy man was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of a fatal motorcycle accident on July 4.
Local defense attorney Arthur Cantu will file a motion with the San Benito County Superior Court to have Orabuena released without bail and to ask the court to dismiss the charges of second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
“Every charge in the complaint and amended complaint from the prosecution hinges on my client’s alleged level of intoxication,” Cantu said. “The test results from the Department of Justice clearly show that my client’s alcohol level at the time of the accident was 0.00.”
District Attorney John Sarsfield said Cantu’s request to have charges dropped was premature.
“All the tests are not done yet,” Sarsfield said. “This is a fatality so we run a whole battery of tests looking for a variety of substances, not just alcohol.”
The charges against Orabuena stem from a July 4 accident on Fairview Road near the Spring Grove Road intersection in which Joseph Judnick, 48, was killed.
The 4:25 p.m. accident happened when Judnick, the brother of Tres Pinos resident Judy Rider, was driving a 2002 Harley-Davidson motorcycle southbound on Fairview Road. As Judnick approached the Spring Grove Road intersection, Orabuena, who as driving a Doge Ram van, made a left turn in front of Judnick, the California Highway Patrol said.
Judnick applied his brakes in an attempt to avoid the Dodge but skidded forward and struck the side of the van, the CHP said.
Judnick sustained severe head and body injuries in the collision and died later at Hazel Hawkins Hospital.
Sarsfield said he could not comment on details of the case, but said that Cantu was trying to shortcut the prosecutorial process.
“That is why we have preliminary hearings to present evidence in court and if there is enough evidence, a defendant is bound over to stand trial. If there is not enough then the person is released,” Sarsfield said.
Cantu also said he has more than just the results of the urine test taken the night of the accident.
“I have a witness who was traveling behind my client at the time of the accident,” Cantu said. “That witness can testify that my client was not driving erratically at the time of the accident.”
Cantu was appointed by the court to represent Orabuena after the court disqualified Greg LaForge for a possible conflict of interest.
LaForge was originally appointed by the court to represent Orabuena because Orabuena could not get an attorney on his own.
