Former District Attorney Paul Zellerbach speaks out on his wife’s not guilty verdict

In an exclusive interview with CBS Local 2 and KESQ, former District Attorney Paul Zellerbach says he is still wondering how his wife ended up in a trial for a crime she didn’t commit.

“There are probably thousands of other people that have been accused of same crimes that are experiencing the same angst that we did,” Zellerbach, saying this was a learning experience.

He lost his re-election to current District Attorney Mike Hestrin after he was caught vandalizing one of Hestrin’s signs.

His wife’s case was prosecuted by the State Attorney General’s office to avoid a conflict of interest.

Zellerbach still thinks his wife was treated unfairly.

“How many people in this day and age…that are in their 50’s and 60’s aren’t taking some sort of medication?” says Zellerbach.

Zellerbach tells us his wife was sick with the flu and driving in the rain when she lost control of her car and crashed into a tree in the area of Overlook Pkwy and Orozco Dr in Riverside County.

Her airbags deployed, and according to her defense, there is a chance she had a concussion.

“They have her trying to perform these field sobriety tests, you know standing on one leg and walking and turning and heel to toe, in the rain,” says Zellerbach.

Zellerbach says his wife should have been hospitalized, not handcuffed.

Once taken to the Riverside Police Department, he says she passed all drug tests.

While some prescription drugs were found in her system, we’re told they were at nonexistent, low, or below therapeutic levels.

Paige Zellerbach’s defense argued the medications were safe for her to take and drive, but to the family’s disbelief, the case proceeded to go to trial.

Paul Zellerbach says despite the win, his family still feels they’ve been wronged.

“We won. We were successful. We proved that she wasn’t impaired when she was driving the vehicle by the verdict, but we still get these news articles and headlines that basically repeat the misinformation or the half information that the prosecution put in their trial brief and doesn’t include any of the witness testimony presented to the jury by our defense.”

CBS Local 2 and KESQ did reach out to the California Department of Justice for comment on the verdict, but we have not heard from them.