Trial begins in drunk driving crash that killed two men at Torrey Pines State Beach – NBC 7 San Diego

On Tuesday, the trial began of Christopher Ray Schmittel, a young man who was driving under the influence of alcohol and caused a car crash near Torrey Pines State Beach that left two of his passengers dead and two others seriously injured.

Schmittel, now 21, of Moreno Valley, is accused of driving a 2020 Subaru WRX through a metal guardrail on Torrey Pines Road shortly before 11 p.m. on April 25, 2022, causing the deaths of Joshua Manzanares and Johnny Punzalan, both 19. The victims were ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, according to police.

Assistant District Attorney Hailey Williams said the car was traveling at speeds of over 120 mph immediately before the crash and Schmittel was driving under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, Xanax and, according to the men, psychoactive mushrooms.

One of the surviving passengers, Aaron McCray, took the stand Tuesday, claiming he and the other men left the Riverside County town of Wildomar earlier that day with Schmittel behind the wheel. He said the group often drank, did drugs and drove recklessly when together.

On the day of the accident, McCray said, Schmittel was driving at speeds of up to 177 km/h on the winding Ortega Highway and repeatedly swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid having to slow down on the highway’s curves. Williams showed the court several cell phone videos of the men in the car. All of them showed the speedometer and, in at least one case, Schmittel’s hand, which had lifted from the steering wheel of the speeding car and protruded through the sunroof.

The speeding continued through Riverside County, Orange County and San Diego County, according to Williams. On Interstate 5 southbound toward San Diego, Schmittel drove up to 140 mph, McCray said.

At some point in northern San Diego County, the group stopped, bought bottled water and beer, then sat on a beach and drank alcohol. McCray said he saw Schmittel eating what they thought were mushrooms incorporated into a candy bar. A later blood sample from Schmittel showed he had marijuana and Xanax in his system and a blood alcohol level of about 0.08%, which is the legal limit for driving in California for anyone over 21.

Speed ​​and alcohol may have played a role in a fatal car crash on a beach in Torrey Pines.

McCray testified that the last thing he remembered before waking up in the crumpled vehicle was one of the other passengers asking if he was “ready to drive,” to which he replied “yes.”

McCray suffered a broken femur and other injuries as a result of the accident and had to undergo an 18-hour operation, he said.

Williams asked the jury to find Schmittel guilty on counts of first-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs causing personal injury, driving the wrong way on a divided roadway and driving with a blood alcohol level over 0.05% as a minor.

“The disaster that brought the defendant’s car to Torrey Pines State Beach that night was entirely foreseeable and entirely preventable,” Williams said, “but because of the defendant’s driving, the alcohol he drank and the drugs he took, exacerbated by the poor and fatal decisions he continued to make, two 19-year-olds lost their lives.”

Sean Jones of Jones Trial Attorneys represented Schmittel on the first day of the trial after his original attorney was unable to attend due to health reasons. Jones shared that Schmittel has experience racing cars on closed tracks. He said it was “something he excelled at” and that he “liked to drive fast,” but he hopes the jury does not pursue the murder charge against his client.

“Christopher was an experienced, capable, if overconfident, driver,” Jones told the jury. “He was surrounded by four other teenagers who were engaging in exactly the same risky, reckless behavior as he was. While the tragic consequences of this behavior may seem obvious in hindsight, they had not considered or seriously considered it during the course of their joyride that day.”