Driver in fatal crash escapes felony charges

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, March 29, 2005 | 11:15 a.m.

Clara Guardado's grief over losing her two teenage daughters when a vehicle crashed into a bus stop deepened Monday when she learned that the driver faces just a speeding ticket and a minor moving violation.

"I'm just so upset, and I'm sure all of Las Vegas is upset," Guardado said. "It's unbelievable."

Metro Police officials said they sympathize with the families, but they could not find any evidence to support felony charges against Veronica Schmidt connection with the crash that killed Guardado's daughters, 14-year-old Angelica Jimenez and 16-year-old Raquel Jimenez, Reggie Williams, 16 and Samantha Allen, 36, two weeks ago on Smoke Ranch Road at Rock Springs Drive.

Police recommended to the Las Vegas City Attorney's office that Schmidt be cited for speeding and failure to maintain the travel lane. Both are misdemeanors carrying penalties of up to six months in jail, a maximum $1,000 fine or both.

Investigators determined she was driving 37 to 47 mph in a 35 zone.

"I wish we had a different result, but putting out a phony or fictitious charge to satisfy the emotions of the community is not in the rules," Sheriff Bill Young said.

Detective Bill Redfairn, lead investigator in the wreck, said the probe was thorough, and while he has sympathy for the families of the victims, his hands are tied.

"We feel for the families and we want to do the right thing," but added that those who disagree with the outcome should write their legislators to get changes made to the vehicular crimes laws to give them more teeth.

Proponents of efforts to change state law say this case shows why more stringent laws addressing traffic deaths should be passed.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, is currently trying to get the Legislature to pass her Assembly Bill 256, a "misdemeanor manslaughter" bill, which would require only proof of simple negligence by a driver in a fatal collision to win a conviction.

It carries a punishment of up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Convictions under this proposed law would also go on a person's insurance and driving records.

The bill was scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Judiciary Committee in Carson City this morning.

A similar bill was introduced in the 2003 Legislature and was backed by the Nevada District Attorneys Association, but it was not passed by lawmakers.

To obtain a conviction under the state's current felony manslaughter law, prosecutors must prove that a driver had been reckless and willfully disregarded public safety.

Prosecutors and police have complained in the past that it is difficult if not impossible for them to meet that burden of proof in many traffic fatalities. The bus stop crash is a prime example.

Redfairn looked at a number of different scenarios that could have caused her to lose control of her Ford Explorer the morning of March 14 -- that Schmidt passed out while driving, a gust of wind blew her off course, that a medical condition resulted in her losing control.

But none of the evidence pointed to any scenario in particular, he said.

Schmidt had trace amounts, 100 nanograms per milliliter, of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax in her system, but authorities said it's unclear whether that played a role in the wreck.

She told police she took a half a pill about 10 p.m. the night before the collision and got nine hours of sleep. Her dosage is a half pill twice a day, and it was prescribed to her lawfully by a physician's assistant, police said.

Redfairn noted that Schmidt was not warned of the medication's side effects, only to use it with care until the patient can determine its effects. She was not told she should not drive while on the medication, though those warnings are on the packaging for such medication.

Schmidt told police that the morning of the crash was one of the first times in recent memory that she felt good, Redfairn said. Her husband also reported no unusual behavior on her part.

She dropped her husband off at work and was heading home when she told police she believes she blacked out. Blackouts are a rare side-effect of Xanax, but police could not determine for sure whether that happened.

Schmidt voluntarily underwent medical tests after the crash, but whether she passed out before the collision could not be pinpointed.

"We have no evidence of impairment on her part while she was driving," Redfairn said.

Witnesses told police it appeared a strong gust of wind pushed the vehicle off course -- that morning was particularly windy, Redfairn said. But the witnesses also said they didn't feel a gust, that was just how it appeared.

Police initially said Schmidt failed a field sobriety test, which included a walking turn and one-legged stand, and indicated she would booked for driving under the influence.

However, upon further investigation, police learned she failed the test because she recently had surgery on her knee. She underwent a breath test and a blood test and no alcohol was found in her system, Redfairn said.

L.J. O'Neale, a prosecutor who handles vehicular crimes for the Clark County District Attorney's office, worked closely with Metro and evaluated the evidence they gathered.

"In the very thorough investigation done here, we cannot in good faith and good conscience go forward with a criminal case based on the facts before us," he said.

A vehicular manslaughter charge isn't appropriate because that would require gross negligence on the part of the driver, and reckless driving wouldn't fit because authorities would need to show the driver displayed a willful and wanton disregard for the law, O'Neale said.

Instead of writing letters to lawmakers as Redfairn recommended, Vergus Bailey, mother of Samantha Allen, said she plans to leave Las Vegas to get away from the bad memories.

Bailey, who has lived in Las Vegas for eight years and has family here, said she has difficulty sleeping without medication, and she is having a tough time coming to grips with the fact that her daughter is gone.

"I'm still expecting her to come around the corner," she said.

The news of the decision to not charge Schmidt with a harsher crime angered Bailey.

"I think it stinks," she said. "They put people in jail for less than that, and that woman took four lives away.

"I'm just mad, and it's unfair. I don't know what they're thinking."

Guardado had similar thoughts.

"I think she should go to prison. She killed four people. And you can't buy back their lives. ... She's going to get life back like nothing happened. She's never had any remorse."

Guardado also reserved some words for the authorities: "Look at all the records and think about what he (they) would do if it was his (their) kids who were killed."

Since her daughters' deaths, she's felt " an emptiness, there will always be an emptiness."

Sun reporter David Kihara also contributed to this story.