LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The 19-year-old driver accused of causing a 12-car crash in Las Vegas that killed three people is once again asking to have murder charges dismissed in his case.
Jose Gutierrez was arrested after the crash near Jones Boulevard and Cheyenne Avenue. He faces nine felony charges, including three counts of murder with use of a deadly weapon.
Witnesses and police have testified that Gutierrez sped up to stopped traffic at the intersection on November 18 and did not appear to make any attempt to stop, brake or otherwise avoid a collision.
Witnesses described the aftermath as catastrophic, some testifying that they thought they'd heard a bomb go off. Body-worn camera footage released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department showed Gutierrez being pulled from a mangled Infiniti sedan and put into an ambulance.
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His girlfriend, 20-year-old Adilene Duran Rincon, was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash also killed 38-year-old Edward Garcia and 25-year-old Vanessa Lainez Vasquez, who was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries and did not survive.
On Thursday, Gutierrez's attorney, Thomas Moskal, brought a new motion asking Judge Michelle Leavitt to dismiss charges of murder.
Moskal previously tried to challenge the murder charges in February, but Leavitt rejected his argument.
In a new filing, Moskal argues that, since a toxicology report found THC in Gutierrez's blood after the crash, the case should be categorized as a DUI. He argues the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled in previous cases that second-degree murder cannot be charged in a DUI case, and that it should be up to the Nevada Legislature to amend state statutes if greater penalties are sought in fatal collisions.
Currently, a charge of reckless driving resulting in death carries a punishment of one to 10 years in prison. The punishment for second-degree murder in Nevada is 25 years to life in prison.
Moskal also argues that prosecutors don't have enough evidence to prove Gutierrez acted with the intent to kill anyone.
"The state's case, at its core, remains grounded completely in inferences drawn from Gutierrez's driving conduct," Moskal wrote.
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In previous hearings, Moskal said that Gutierrez has a history of seizures, and that could have been what caused the crash. If that's the case, prosecutor Giancarlo Pesci said, then Gutierrez "has no business driving in this community."
Gutierrez has pleaded not guilty. He faces nine felony charges, including three counts of murder with use of a deadly weapon, three counts of reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm, attempted murder with a deadly weapon, battery with a deadly weapon, and reckless driving resulting in substantial bodily harm.
Leavitt is expected to rule on Moskal's motion during a court hearing scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 13.
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