Man Convicted Of Killing Young Adult In DUI Crash To Stay In County Jail
A man who pleaded guilty to killing a young adult while driving drunk was ordered to remain in custody today rather than be transferred to an alcohol rehab center.
Seth Arsenault, 53 of Palm Springs, began serving his one-year jail sentence Feb. 7 for killing Derek Short, 23, in a drunken driving accident in November 2009.
When he arrived in county jail, the facility’s medical staff determined he was not in the proper physical condition to be assigned to the general jail facility. That prevented him from being able to attend the Riverside Sheriff’s Alcohol Treatment program — required as part of Arsenault’s sentence — and brought about today’s hearing.
“He was too sick to take the class,” defense attorney Joseph Rhea said.
Rhea presented two options to Superior Court Judge Dale R. Wells. One would have Arsenault serve his yearlong sentence at the county’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Recovery Center; the other would simply remove the treatment program from the terms of his probation.
The former would send Arsenault to a facility much like a conventional rehab center, without the use of chains and allowing free movement throughout. Wells went with the latter, sending Arsenault back to county jail to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Wells putting Arsenault in county jail instead of doling out a prison term frustrated Short’s family enough that none of his relatives attended the sentencing Feb. 4.
Short was pushing another man’s disabled vehicle off the road when he was struck by Arsenault’s Mercedes about 2:30 a.m. Nov. 28, 2009. He died the next day from head trauma at Desert Regional Hospital.
Arsenault registered a blood-alcohol content of .16 percent, twice the legal limit.
He pleaded guilty to DUI gross vehicular manslaughter and two counts of causing injury while driving impaired at a hearing Dec. 22 in which Deputy District Attorney Brad Braaten and the attorney for the victim’s family, David Chapman, fought for a harsher sentence.
Under the terms of his probation, Arsenault will not be allowed a driver’s license and must attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for a year. He also must abstain from alcohol and can’t go to businesses where alcohol is the main item of sale.
Wells also said Arsenault, who lost his job as a Gannett Co. advertising sales representative, must pay the victim’s family restitution, with the amount to be stet at a later time.
