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Nipomo man sentenced for fatal 2018 DUI crash
SLO Co. Jail
and last updated 2021-03-04 19:41:19-05
A Nipomo man was sentenced Thursday to 15 years-to-life in prison for causing a deadly crash in Nipomo more than two years ago.
The sentence comes after Edgar Saul Rojas Morales, 25, was found guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, and driving on a suspended license during his jury trial last December.
The jury deadlocked on the most serious charge of murder. According to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney s Office, the jury was split 11-1 in favor of guilt.
DUI driver convicted of manslaughter in fatal Nipomo crash
December 15, 2020
By JOSH FRIEDMAN
A Santa Maria man who drove the wrong way while intoxicated, causing a crash in Nipomo that killed an 82-year-old woman, managed to evade a second-degree murder conviction after a single juror held out from finding him guilty on Monday.
The San Luis Obispo jury split 11-1 in favor of convicting Edgar Saul Rojas Morales, 25, of second-degree murder. The jury did, however, convict Morales of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and driving on a suspended license.
Morales faces a possible sentence of 15 years to life in prison, because of prior convictions.
Edgar Saul Rojas Morales
–District Attorney Dan Dow announced Tuesday that a San Luis Obispo County Jury has convicted Edgar Saul Rojas Morales, 25, of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and other felonies related to the death of Maria Rosas Medina,82, of Santa Maria on Dec. 1, 2018. The jury was not able to reach a unanimous verdict on the most serious charge of murder. On the charge of murder, the jury’s decision was split 11-1 in favor of guilt.
The jury convicted Mr. Morales of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, and driving on a suspended license. In a separate hearing, Superior Court Judge Jesse Marino found true the allegations that Morales had suffered two prior convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol in 2014 and 2017, and a prior conviction for driving on a suspended license.
A San Luis Obispo County jury on Monday convicted a Santa Maria man of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the 2018 death of an 82-year-old woman in Nipomo.
The jury handed down its verdict against Edgar Saul Rojas Morales, 25, in the killing of Maria Rosas Medina, also of Santa Maria, following a three-week trial in San Luis Obispo, according to Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth.Â
Morales also was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, causing injury, a felony; and driving on a suspended license, a misdemeanor.Â
Jury members were not able to reach a verdict on the charge of murder, with 11 jurors finding Morales guilty and one juror finding him not guilty, according to Dobroth.Â