Wife of California journalist killed in car crash hugs drunk driver after he apologized during sentencing
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA: Gene Harbrecht, editor of the Orange County Register, died on June 30, 2020, after a BMW driven by Louie Robert Villa collided with his pickup truck in what authorities have characterized as a street race. Villa, 31, received a sentence of 15 years to life in prison on Friday, October 7, after the jury returned a 10-2 split verdict in August on a charge of misdemeanor street racing.
Ricardo Tolento, who the prosecution alleges was chasing Villa's BMW in his Infiniti, was nearby when Harbrecht was returning from lunch. A felony charge of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while participating in a street race, one felony hit-and-run causing permanent injury or death, and one misdemeanor count of street racing are all pending against 26-year-old Tolento. Villa was charged with the more serious murder allegation due to his earlier 2012 DUI conviction, which carries a possible 11-year sentence. Anyone convicted of drunk driving in California is given notice that they could face murder charges if they do it again and cause someone's death.
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The term 'Watson advisement' comes from the drunk driver Robert Lee Watson, whose case before the California Supreme Court in 1981 established that he could be charged with second-degree murder for a crash that killed Penny Maillet and her daughter Michelle Maillet, then six, in Redding, California, in 1979.
In a statement to the media on Friday, Todd Spitzer, the district attorney for Orange County, referred to the advisement and said, "Watson murders are some of the most tragic cases we prosecute because all too often the victims are completely innocent people and the defendants didn't wake up that day intending to commit a murder, but regardless of what they intended an innocent person was left dead as a result of their choices."
Spitzer continued, "Nothing will bring Gene Harbrecht back to his wife and loved ones; but hopefully his death will be enough to redirect the trajectory of his murderer's life after he completes his prison sentence – and it will serve as a warning to anyone else who wants to get behind the wheel drunk or high and race on Orange County's streets."
"The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will vigorously prosecute illegal street racing and driving under the influence cases to the fullest extent of the law," Spitzer concluded. Villa and Tolento "began racing next to each other at the intersection of 17th Street and Bristol Street in Santa Ana around 11.40 am," according to the prosecution, before Villa's BMW crashed with Harbrecht's truck.
"Villa was seen pulling ahead of Tolento's Infiniti shortly before crashing into a pickup truck making a left turn onto Santa Clara Avenue at Bristol Street," the press report stated. Villa's BMW was destroyed in the accident, and he was arrested there. Tolento was caught shortly after leaving the scene of the collision without attempting to assist Harbrecht.
In addition to second-degree murder, Villa was found guilty of three other offenses -- one felony count of driving while intoxicated with a blood alcohol level greater than 0.08 with a prior DUI conviction, one misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle with a license that has been suspended or revoked with a prior conviction.
Villa apologized to Harbrecht's widow Patricia Harbrecht on Friday, October 7, "expressing remorse for his actions and promising to change his ways," the news release states. The press statement stated that Patricia gave a handcuffed Villa a hug and a kiss on the cheek after the court hearing.