Opening statements begin in deadly Tour de Palm Springs crash trial
A murder trial has begun at the Riverside Hall of Justice for the Desert Hot Springs man accused of killing a cyclist and severely injuring another during the 2018 Tour de Palm Springs.
Ronnie Ramon Huerta, 26, is charged with second-degree murder. Prosecutors allege he was high on marijuana when he killed 49-year-old Mark Kristofferson and badly injured his fiancé Alyson Akers.
The prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Karen Salas, said in her opening statement Monday Huerta drove recklessly during the February 2018 event, speeding past hundreds of cyclists before losing control of his vehicle. She argued that Huerta's actions were a "lethal game of chance" that endangered the lives of all the cyclists on the road that day.
"I will ask you to find him guilty of murder," Salas said. "By 9:30 a.m., Alyson Akers was in a CHP helicopter fighting for her life. And Mark Kristofferson was dead on the side of Dillon Road," Salas said.
The crash occurred on a two-lane stretch of road in Indio Hills, where hundreds of cyclists were riding. Huerta was allegedly driving under the influence at speeds near 90 miles per hour.
"While dust was still settling from this sand explosion that was caused by the collision, the defendant got out of his car, ran into the desert and hit his marijuana bong," Salas said.
Huerta's defense attorney, Alex Hallowell, admitted that his client was at fault, but he denied that there was any malice in his actions, stating that it doesn't meet the burden for murder.
"He was a 21-years-old who's driving dumb. He wasn't thinking about cyclists," Hallowell argued. He also claimed that Huerta wasn't high on drugs on the morning of the incident, though he had smoked marijuana the night before.
"He did the stupid thing of throwing the bong into the desert. But he wasn't impaired that morning on Dillon Road," Hallowell said.
Akers, the injured victim in this case, was the first witness to testify Monday. Although she said she doesn't remember the incident, she testified that she has lasting scars, pain, and emotional trauma from that day.
Charges against Huerta include second-degree murder, driving under the influence of drugs resulting in great bodily injury, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.
He is free on a $250,000 bond.
According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney's Office, the defendant was a repeat traffic offender, racking up seven citations over a two-year span for speeding, failing to obey traffic signals and signs, making unsafe lane changes and driving while distracted due to use of a cellular telephone.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles in 2017 suspended his driving privileges because he had accumulated so many points on his record that he was deemed a "negligent operator" and unsafe to be on the road, the brief said.
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