Palm Desert teacher, coach pleads not guilty in fatal DUI crash
A Palm Desert High School teacher and football coach suspected of striking and killing a pedestrian while intoxicated re-entered a not guilty plea today to a murder charge.
Cameron Francis Curtis, 31, of Palm Desert, is suspected of fatally striking 64-year-old Nancy Valdes of Palm Desert while driving under the influence on March 4.
He initially pleaded not guilty March 8 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini ruled Oct. 11 that there was sufficient evidence to hold Curtis to answer on the murder charge, which he pleaded not guilty to Wednesday.
His next court appearance was set for Nov. 27.
During the preliminary hearing at the Larson Justice Center, Deputy Page Broughton of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department testified that he responded to the scene the night of the crash and saw Valdes' lifeless body lying in the street.
"It was apparent that she was deceased,'' Broughton said.
Valdes was a caretaker for an elderly woman in the area and had just left a nearby home to walk the woman's dog when she was struck, according to Broughton. Curtis was allegedly drinking alone at Stuft Pizza, about two miles from the collision, from around 3:20 p.m. to shortly before 6 p.m.
Based on his receipt from that day, the defendant drank 91 ounces of beer and took two shots of liquor before heading out, Broughton said. A bartender told him that Curtis was a regular customer and usually sits at the bar for three hours before heading out.
Deputy Joshua Kemper testified that when he arrived at the scene Curtis told him he was aware of what he did and had ``bloodshot watery eyes, slurred speech, (and) strong odor of alcohol emitting from his breath."
Toward the end of the preliminary hearing, Curtis' defense attorney Alex Hallowell asked the judge to reduce the murder charge, arguing that implied malice wasn't proven, his client had no prior DUIs and the Riverside County District Attorney's Office is relying on his client's participation in the 15 Minutes Program -- designed to warn high school students about the dangers of drunk driving -- when he was a juvenile in 2009.
Hallowell added that Curtis was driving about two miles home and said his driving was reckless but not egregiously so as in other DUI cases.
Deputy District Attorney Karen Salas told the judge that Curtis went to an establishment knowing he would get drunk and have to drive home, maneuvered around traffic to go around a car at a stop light, passed a stop sign, and hit a pedestrian while it was still light outside.
She added that Curtis' participation in the program, which requires students to meet once a week for four months, is extra reassurance that he knew the dangers of drunk driving.
At the end of the preliminary hearing, Benjamini said that he doesn't believe there's a cutoff point for use of the classes he took during the program, so, though it was many years ago, learning about the dangers of drunk driving and then allegedly driving recklessly while intoxicated before the fatal crash is evidence enough to hold him to answer on the murder charge.
Curtis was driving a gray Nissan Frontier eastbound on Calliandra when he allegedly struck the victim, according to Sheriff's Sgt. Shaun Griffith.
"Intoxication appears to have played a role in this collision," Griffith said.
Curtis was arrested at the scene and subsequently booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, where he remains held without bail.
He has no prior convictions in Riverside County.
