Murder conviction for drunken driving defendant
Defense had said unknown man caused crash by hitting car's accelerator.

By Marty Toohey
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, August 31, 2007

A Travis County jury convicted Daniel Albert Talamantes of murder Thursday, unswayed by the defense's argument that a "mystery man" and not a drunken driver caused the early morning crash last year that killed 16-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy.

Daniel Talamantes said another man pushed gas pedal.

It's the first time in Travis County that a man has been found guilty of murder after killing someone while driving drunk.

Talamantes could get up to life in prison. The jury did not finish the sentencing Thursday night.

He stood accused of murder because under state law, a defendant commits murder if, while committing another felony, he performs an act that is clearly dangerous to human life and kills someone.

Talamantes, 20, had been previously convicted twice of driving under the influence of alcohol. A third such conviction is a felony under Texas law, making the murder charge possible.

Prosecutors said that shortly after midnight on April 29, 2006, Talamantes was driving his mother's 2001 GMC pickup south on Airport Boulevard and plowed it into an Eagle Talon. Two people in the Talon were killed: 5-year-old Elias Sanchez and his mother's cousin, 16-year-old Erica Vasquez.

Elias' mother, Monica Vasquez, was driving and survived. Talamantes and his passengers — three underage girls and a man named Ivan Suarez — suffered minor injuries.



Monica Vasquez, facing, survived the wreck but lost her son Elias. Her own mother, Delia Vasquez, tries to comfort her after the trial Thursday

Prosecutors said Talamantes at first denied being the driver of the pickup, which was borrowed from his mother. He initially said that another man, whom he could not name, was driving and was thrown out of the truck during the crash, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said Talamantes told investigators the impact of the crash pushed him from the passenger seat behind the wheel.

He later said that he was the driver and that the unnamed person was in the passenger seat, according to prosecutors.

Talamantes' lawyer, Jim Erickson, argued that Talamantes could not be guilty of murder because the crash was not his fault.

Shortly before the crash, a police officer saw the truck parked along Airport Boulevard and pulled behind it, curious. The truck sped away and soon crashed.

The unnamed person, Erickson said, panicked at the sight of the officer, reached over with his feet and slammed on the accelerator, causing the truck to speed through a red light and into the other vehicle. Two of the girls gave similar accounts.

Erickson said the unnamed person, whom Judge Bob Perkins and prosecutors referred to as "the mystery man," jumped out of the car after the collision and ran. Erickson said the person was probably an illegal immigrant who feared deportation.

Erickson told jurors that the situation was similar to the movie "The Fugitive," in which the protagonist is accused of a murder committed by a one-armed man no one thinks exists. The man is eventually found.

"We're not making this up," Erickson told the jury during closing arguments. "If we did, then there's a lot of people in on it."

He also questioned the reliability of two blood tests, one of which was administered by Brackenridge Hospital shortly after the crash, the other after 2 p.m. Both tests showed Talamantes at or above the legal blood alcohol limit for driving, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutor Amy Meredith said the defense's story did not add up on several levels.

Suarez, the male passenger, told police that Talamantes had drunk about 10 beers in the six hours before the crash. Experts Meredith called also testified that Talamantes had to have been above the legal blood alcohol limit at the time of the crash.

Meredith also said the unnamed person did not exist.

"If someone were in a car and pushes on your acceleration pedal," she said during closing arguments, "are you really not going to hit the brakes?"

After closing arguments concluded about 4 p.m., Talamantes' sister, Noemy Talamantes, stood from her seat in the audience and said that a man with her, Sergio Mejia, knew who the unnamed man was and where he lived. Once she finished speaking, neither Perkins nor the lawyers acknowledged or approached her.

The additional testimony would not have been allowed in court because both sides had rested their case, Meredith said. Noemy Talamantes said that she previously had tried to get Erickson in touch with Mejia but that Erickson did not respond.

After a little more than two hours of deliberation, the jury delivered its guilty verdict. Talamantes sat impassively, as he did through the trial.

The families of Talamantes, Erica Vasquez and Elias Sanchez sat in silence while the lawyers and judge conferred quietly at the front of the room. A few minutes later, a dozen of the victims' family members tearfully embraced outside the courtroom.

Debra Vasquez stroked a small, heart-shaped pendant with the name Erica etched in it, choking at the thought that her daughter would have graduated from high school this year. Vasquez talked a lot about her daughter's willingness to help others.

"She'd bring a smile to a room full of sour," said Joe Munoz, Erica's stepfather.

The family said the justice system worked.

"I feel it was the right thing, to send a message to all the drivers out there who think they can drink and drive," said Richard Berron, Elias' grandfather. "Those days are over. It took my grandson to enforce this, to be a hero for all the other kids, all the other victims out there."

Sanchez's mother agreed.

"I feel like I can move on with my life now," Monica Vasquez said. "My son's at peace."

She said Elias loved to dance and watch scary movies and would talk with anyone. His grandmother, Delia Vasquez, remembered how much he enjoyed singing and listening to music.

"He loved Los Lonely Boys," she said, tearing up and embracing Monica. "He loved 'Heaven.' That was his song."

mtoohey@statesman.com; 445-3673

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