Costa Mesa driver Faces Trial for Pedestrian's Death

September 30, 2009

Orange County - A Costa Mesa driver will stand in trial for allegedly killing a Guatemalan woman while he was texting and driving at the same time on Westcliff Drive, Newport Beach last year.

Martin Burt Kuehl, 42, was charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. His victim, Martha Ovalle, died from the impact as she crossed the street in a marked crosswalk.

A defense request appealing to reduce the charges was rejected by an Orange County judge last Monday. Deputy Dist. Atty. Jason Baez defended his client phone records showed no evidence of Kuehl texting prior to hitting Ovalle.

“I’m not saying that I can prove or have to prove that he was texting when he hit the victim,” Baez said. “There’s definitely a bunch of inferences that he wasn’t looking. His phone was found open and [next to] the driver’s seat ... gross negligence is a state of mind. Texting is just one of the things he did wrong here.”

Furthermore, the suspects lawyer deputy public defender Adam Vining, said he was still trying to reduce his client’s charges from felony vehicular manslaughter to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter with ordinary negligence.

“The judge specifically found that there is no evidence that Kuehl was text messaging that [morning],” Vining said. “He stated to [the] police that the sun was in his eyes [when he hit the victim].”

If convicted of vehicular manslaughter, the suspect will face up to nine years in prison.