2 men face re-trial for murder in street racing death

Two men accused of causing a fatal Rancho Mirage crash that killed an 81-year-old woman more than three years ago will not return to court to face second-degree murder charges until at least mid-February.

A Feb. 17 trial-setting conference was set Thursday for Scott Daniel Bahls, 31, of Palm Springs, and Wade Klinton Wheeler, 34, of Rancho Mirage, convicted last month for causing the June 18, 2013, crash that killed Barbara Schmitz and seriously injured her husband, Gerald.

Following a month-long trial and a week of deliberations, jurors deadlocked 10-2 in favor of convicting the men of second-degree murder. The panel did convict the defendants of gross vehicular manslaughter,
unlawfully engaging in a speed contest on a highway and reckless driving causing injury. Bahls was additionally found guilty of hit-and-run for leaving the crash scene.

The crash occurred during a four-mile street race that began on Date Palm Drive in Cathedral City, according to police and prosecutors. Deputy District Attorney Daniel M. Fox told jurors the defendants were driving in excess of 70 mph along Highway 111 before Wheeler’s BMW crashed into the side of the victims’ Ford Focus as Gerald Schmitz was turning left onto Dunes View Road from the highway.

The car launched into the air and rolled several times before coming to rest at a Union 76 gas station near the intersection. Barbara Schmitz died at Eisenhower Medical Center about two hours after the crash. Her husband suffered numerous injuries, including a brain hemorrhage, broken ribs and vertebra, ankle, tibia, fibula and pelvis fractures. Wheeler suffered a broken right leg.

In his closing argument, Fox said the defendants were cognizant of the risk they were taking — an element necessary to prove implied malice needed for a second-degree murder conviction.

Bahls’ attorney, Stephanie Arrache, told jurors there was no evidence the men were involved in a street race. Arrache and Wheeler’s attorney, Rodney Soda, said the evidence only showed that Gerald Schmitz was at fault and had more than enough time to gauge oncoming traffic before turning, but didn’t.

“He could have seen oncoming traffic had he been paying attention,” Arrache said.

Fox, however, said Schmitz properly gauged the distance between him and the defendants’ cars, but could not have anticipated the speed at which they were approaching, as he alleged they were driving in excess of 70 mph in a 45 mph zone.

Schmitz testified he had no memory of what occurred leading up to and immediately following the crash.

According to a court document, witnesses reported seeing both drivers swerving through traffic and “communicating to each other through their windows. Both vehicles were seen either side by side or within a car length apart.”

“These were two grown men behaving like children,” Fox said. “They didn’t want to hurt anyone. But that doesn’t mean they’re not murderers.”