The Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy who struck and killed two bicyclists last year while on patrol has pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter as part of a plea bargain, according to the district attorney.
James Council, 28, who originally pleaded not guilty and was scheduled to go on trial Monday, reached a deal this morning, according to Amy Cornell, a spokeswoman with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Council will be ordered June 25 to serve a four-month sentence with the option of wearing an electronic ankle monitoring bracelet and 800 hours of community service, according to prosecutor Ray Mendoza. He will also be placed on three years’ formal probation, ordered to pay restitution to the victims’ families and standard fines and fees.
Council’s attorney, Mary Sansen, could not immediately be reached for comment.
On the morning of March 9, 2008, Council crossed a double-yellow line on Stevens Canyon Road in Cupertino. His patrol car plowed into a group of elite cyclists on a training ride on the hilly road popular with riders.
The crash killed Matt Peterson, 29, and Kristy Gough, 30. Christopher Knapp, 20, suffered two broken limbs, but survived.
Reached today, Gough’s mother, Karen Clarkson, said she was “shocked” and “caught off guard” when told the plea deal by the Mercury News. “All I can say is I don’t know what to say,” Clarkson said.
No lawsuits have been filed by the bicyclists’ families, according to Santa Clara County Counsel Ann Ravel. But Ravel said the county is in negotiations with them to settle the case.
"Right from the beginning, we acknowledged the county was responsible, so it’s the right thing to do to bring closure and for the families to settle this.‘’
Sansen previously told the Mercury News that the tragedy had devastated Council: His 10-year-old sister, Moira, was struck and killed by a car when he was young boy.
Immediately after hitting the three bicyclists, Council told other cyclists at the scene that he had fallen asleep at the wheel. A spokesman with the California Highway Patrol, which investigated the fatal collision, previously declined to say if investigators found evidence of that.
The CHP did not ask the second-generation sheriff’s deputy to submit to a blood-alcohol test. A 2004 legislative bill that would have required blood-alcohol testing for anyone involved in a fatal auto accident did not pass out of an Assembly committee.
Sansen previously requested that the sheriff’s office release a blood sample it had taken from Council as part of its internal affairs investigation into the crash and turn the sample over to the CHP. Sansen previously said she wanted to dispel any notion that drugs or alcohol may have been a factor in the crash.
When CHP investigators arrived at the accident scene, Council had already been taken back to the West Valley sheriff’s station. Removing a distraught driver from the scene of a serious accident is a common practice, sheriff’s officials say.
Council also has a 2001 conviction for being involved in a speed contest in Los Angeles County. Council, 20 years old at the time, also was charged with two drunken-driving counts: driving while intoxicated and having a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08 percent, court records show.
In a plea deal, records show, Council was convicted only of street racing. He received 24 months of court probation — a punishment that had ended before he was hired by the sheriff’s department.
Sheriff’s officials knew about Council’s conviction and the plea deal. After standard background checks, he was hired about 18 months ago. Sheriff Laurie Smith defended hiring Council, a 1999 Bellarmine High graduate. Council, a Loyola Marymount University alum who lives in Santa Clara, remains on paid administrative leave.
from Rip, Kristy’s father:
- At the scene of the “accident” the witnesses reported that James paced behind his vehicle lamenting as to what he had done to his career. He didn’t rush over to provide aid. He worried about himself.
The Officers at the scene whisked him away and later the Sheriff’s Dept, CHP investigators and the DA’s would all say “this was handled by the book”. - He is whisked away by the Sheriff’s onsite, not in cuffs – is that is by the book?
- He is taken to the Sheriff’s dept and they refuse to permit a Blood Alcohol Test for over 5hrs and 30min - do you think they know that BAC drops by .02 per hour? Meaning his would drop by approx .012 and given his past DUI wouldn’t James & the Sherff’s office want to clear his name?
The following day, his attorney at the time is quoted as saying “no one goes home after a 12hr shift”, in response to question as to whether or not alcohol played a role and whether or not he had been out the night before.
CHP states that it is the policy to take a Blood Alcohol test “immediately & at the scene” following an accident when there is a death and an officer is involved. Nothing happens for 5 & 1/2 hrs - is that really by the book? - I wondered if his father had taught him as a child to take responsibility for his actions. But I read an interview with the father and he says a) an apology would be meaningless so he doesn’t apologize, b) says that this whole thing is like someone “walking to church and being struck by a comet”. Really? An Act of God is the best way to describe your son running over my daughter? And, c) they spend a lot of time trying to figure out a way to get James back on the job. Is his father part of the problem? And if so then my only recourse is to look to the courts for help.