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Family seeks donations to fund fight to alter law
| Thursday, Jul 17 2008 10:47 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Jul 18 2008 8:05 AM
The family of a Bakersfield man killed in a multicar crash July 5 has set up a memorial fund to help cover court costs as they strive to change vehicular manslaughter laws.
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Timothy Retes, 22 of Bakersfield, was killed when Glenn Wieland, 52, of Lancaster slammed into him and another car on Stockdale Highway, about two miles west of Highway 43, according to the highway patrol.
The crash also killed Trisha Walton, 27, and severely injured several others, including two 2-year-olds in the car — one who suffered two broken legs.
Wieland is being charged with eight felonies, including vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and three drug-related misdemeanors. He has pleaded not guilty.
Officers said they found about 22 grams of methamphetamine and some marijuana in Wieland’s truck.
Retes’ family is now working to draft a bill that would seek to make driving-under-the-influence deaths classified as murder instead of vehicular manslaughter, and therefore lead to stiffer penalties.
“We’re having a problem with this case,” said Lorenzo Retes, father of Timothy Retes. “I’m fed up with it. We have to do something to change to law, and up the ante.”
If convicted, Wieland could face a 12-year prison sentence, according to the district attorney’s office, but that’s a preliminary estimate. A second-degree murder charge, however, carries 15 years to life in prison. A crash can be classified as murder if malice is proven.
Officials say a new bill that would send more people to overcrowded prisons would probably not be successful. Donations to cover court costs can be made to a memorial fund in Timothy Retes’ name at Kern Schools Federal Credit Union, account number 4355030.
A hearing for Wieland Thursday was continued until July 31 in Shafter.