The Colorado driver whose car killed bicyclist and Menlo Park teacher Michelle Mazzei, 34, last fall has pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.
Theodore Charles Thornborough, 69, appeared in court in Redwood City on Friday, August 11, and entered his plea. By doing so, he avoids a jury trial.
The charge, misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, carries a penalty of up to one year in county jail.
On October 2, 2005 Mr. Thornborough was driving on westbound Woodside Road near the on-ramp to northbound Interstate 280 when his Mercedes veered into the bicycle lane and struck Ms. Mazzei, who died of her injuries.
Mr. Thornborough is set to appear again before Commissioner Kathleen McKenna on October 10 for sentencing.
Ms. Mazzei was a popular fourth-grade teacher at Oak Knoll School in Menlo Park. She was taking a Sunday morning bike ride along a route on Woodside Road that she had ridden many times before.
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