2 fatal accidents, texting, alcohol involved, two very different results.
White driver- Nicholas Tognozzi
Two deaths in the car he rear-ended while going 65 mph while texting under the influence of marijuana. The two dead women were in the back seat of what used to be a Toyota Camry. Nicholas Tognozzi gets 1 year in the county jail and three years probation. If Tognozzi successful completes 18 months of probation, the two felony gross vehicular manslaughter charges will be reduced to misdemeanors. CHP determined Tognozzi was not over the line for alcohol, but was arrested anyway after officers searched his car and found several buds of marijuana in a glass jar and a pipe. Tognozzi had received at ticket in 2011 for using a cellphone while driving.
He was driven to the CHP office in Rohnert Park where he was tested three hours later by a drug recognition expert, Officer Greg White, who determined Tognozzi was under the influence of marijuana but not impaired.
Deputy District Attorney Dustin Hughson said the prosecution had not made any plea offers to Tognozzi and did not have any input on the indicated sentence that was reached between the defense and the judge during discussions in the chambers. Hughson, objected last month when Judge Chouteau removed from the complaint the great bodily injury enhancement. Hughson said the enhancement would have added five years to Tognozzi’s sentence. Nicholas Tognozzi was arrested at the scene on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The CHP says Tognozzi was determined to be under the influence of pot. So where are the driving under the influence charges?
Brown driver- Rafael Prieto-Gonzalez
One death, of his passenger, when he lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree. Rafael Prieto-Gonzalez gets 19 years in San Quentin. Prieto-Gonzalez will be eligible for release after serving 85 percent, over 16 years, of his sentence. He pleaded no contest to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, vehicle theft and other allegations in a deal with prosecutors. No indication in the article that he had a lawyer, most likely a public defender, who probably didn’t ask if they could make a deal in chambers with the judge (but he isn’t a nice local white person). Prieto-Gonzalez’ request to postpone his sentencing so he could get married in the county jail was denied by Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite. Prosecutors argued he could just as easily tie the knot at San Quentin State Prison.