Second Mistrial Declared in Manslaughter Case
Defendant gets news he wanted to hear not once, but twice
By R. STICKNEY
Updated 2:35 PM PST, Fri, Jun 5, 2009
For a second time, jurors couldn't reach a unanimous decision on the fate of a Poway man accused of driving drunk and causing the crash that killed a woman riding in the back of an SUV near University Town Center in 2007.
John Sedej, 47, was tried on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and two DUI counts.
Sedej is accused of running a red light at La Jolla Village Drive and Genesee Avenue on July 13, 2007, crashing into a 2000 Ford Expedition. The crash killed 28-year-old Nancy Galeana-Ramirez and injured her aunt and mother, as well as Sedej, who was driving an Acura SUV.
Sedej's attorney argued his client didn't run the red light as he turned from southbound Genesee onto La Jolla Village
One holdout juror forced a mistrial in December during Sedej's first trial. After four weeks, jurors had returned saying they were hopelessly deadlocked, 11-1 for guilt.
On Friday, jurors returned hung, 8-4 for guilt, in Sedej's retrial. A status conference is scheduled for Wednesday, June 10 where prosecutors will inform the judge if they intend to prosecute Sedej a third time.
The father of two faces up to 13 years in state prison if convicted.
First Published: Jun 5, 2009 2:07 PM PST
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