The close friend of a driver who allegedly drove drunk, causing a deadly crash in Torrey Highlands, testified over the course of their afternoon together, they had multiple drinks.
Friends, family and co-workers of Anthony Rodriguez, 30, packed the courtroom Tuesday as a preliminary hearing began in his trial. Rodriguez is charged with DUI causing death, gross vehicular manslaughter and having a blood alcohol level in excess of 0.08 causing injury — charges he faces in the July 22 collision. He previously pleaded not guilty.
Orlando Castro, a friend of defendant, took the stand as the trial got underway, describing their afternoon together.
Castro testified that he went with Rodriguez to the Padres game on July 22 to celebrate Rodriguez's birthday. The two took an Uber to the afternoon game and had about three to four beers while at the game.
After the game, he testified, they went to another bar next door for a beer and a shot before walking to Horton Plaza. There, they grabbed an Uber back to Pacific Beach, where Castro lived.
Castro testified that once they got back to his place, all he remembers doing was grabbing some pizza and falling asleep.
When he woke up, Rodriguez was gone.
Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright said Rodriguez had a blood alcohol level of more than twice the legal driving limit when he drove his Fiat 500 into a Chevrolet Nova heading the opposite direction on Carmel Valley Road near Camino del Sur.
Enid Diane Mayer-Sheaf, the Nova’s 61-year-old driver, died at the scene. Her family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the driver accused in her death, claiming Rodriguez drove “with wanton, willful and conscious disregard for the safety of others.”
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“The statement [Rodriguez] provided to the officers was that he had one beer, one shot and one margarita several hours earlier,” said Bright at a previous arraignment, “and then he also placed blame over the crash on the victim, saying she had traveled in to his lanes of the roadway.”
Based on his weight and height, the prosecution believes Rodriguez had close to ten drinks in his system when he got behind the wheel.
Mayer-Sheaf was driving from the hospital where her mother-in-law had just died when she too was killed. According to Bright, her family was not in court because they were at her viewing.
Rodriquez has been ordered to wear a bracelet that alerts authorities if he drinks. If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison.
