thedrifter
05-31-06, 05:23 AM
Article published May 31, 2006
Man to stand trial in Marines' deaths
VISTA - A San Diego man will be tried on two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter in the December deaths of two San Joaquin County Marines.
A San Diego County Superior Court judge set a Sept. 11 trial date Tuesday for Jason Carl Gollmer, 25, whose car hit a car carrying Justin Travnicek, 21, of Lodi and Douglas Hunter, 22, of Stockton, which was stalled on Interstate 5 in Encinitas.
If convicted, Gollmer faces up to 12 years in state prison. Deputy District Attorney Natalie Villaflor said testimony in Tuesday's preliminary hearing revealed Gollmer had a blood-alcohol level of 0.21 percent, nearly three times the legal limit. A traffic investigator testified that Gollmer was traveling at least 100 mph when he slammed into the Marines' Volvo around 3 a.m. Dec. 3, Villaflor said.
Travnicek, the Volvo's driver, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 percent, nearly twice the legal limit, Villaflor said. There were no witnesses to what caused his car to spin out and come to rest on the median shoulder, Villaflor said. But she said another driver testified Tuesday that he was able to avoid hitting the disabled car, which had a portion of its rear end in the far left of the four lanes.
"There was enough time to react if you weren't driving drunk," Villaflor said.
Both men died at the scene.
Travnicek and Hunter were close friends who shared an apartment near Camp Pendleton when they died. They were buried side by side at Cherokee Memorial Park in Lodi.
Ellie
Man to stand trial in Marines' deaths
VISTA - A San Diego man will be tried on two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter in the December deaths of two San Joaquin County Marines.
A San Diego County Superior Court judge set a Sept. 11 trial date Tuesday for Jason Carl Gollmer, 25, whose car hit a car carrying Justin Travnicek, 21, of Lodi and Douglas Hunter, 22, of Stockton, which was stalled on Interstate 5 in Encinitas.
If convicted, Gollmer faces up to 12 years in state prison. Deputy District Attorney Natalie Villaflor said testimony in Tuesday's preliminary hearing revealed Gollmer had a blood-alcohol level of 0.21 percent, nearly three times the legal limit. A traffic investigator testified that Gollmer was traveling at least 100 mph when he slammed into the Marines' Volvo around 3 a.m. Dec. 3, Villaflor said.
Travnicek, the Volvo's driver, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 percent, nearly twice the legal limit, Villaflor said. There were no witnesses to what caused his car to spin out and come to rest on the median shoulder, Villaflor said. But she said another driver testified Tuesday that he was able to avoid hitting the disabled car, which had a portion of its rear end in the far left of the four lanes.
"There was enough time to react if you weren't driving drunk," Villaflor said.
Both men died at the scene.
Travnicek and Hunter were close friends who shared an apartment near Camp Pendleton when they died. They were buried side by side at Cherokee Memorial Park in Lodi.
Ellie