A 19-year-old woman convicted of causing the deaths of three people, including two members of the Tongan royal family, in a 2006 Menlo Park highway crash was sentenced Aug. 24 in San Mateo County Superior Court to two years in county jail.
Edith Delgado of Redwood City will surrender to the women’s jail in Redwood City this week, but with credits for the time she has already served, will likely only have to spend four to five months in jail, according to Deputy District Attorney Aaron Fitzgerald.
Though Ms. Delgado was originally charged with three counts of felony vehicular manslaughter, a jury in June found her guilty only of a misdemeanor for the July 5, 2006, nighttime crash that occurred when Ms. Delgado’s white Mustang changed lanes on U.S. 101 in Menlo Park and sideswiped a Ford Explorer carrying Tonga’s Prince Tu’ipelehake, 54; Princess Kaimana Tu’ipelehake, 45; and their driver, Vinisia Hefa, 36.
All three were killed when the Explorer lost control and flipped on the highway.
On Aug. 24 Judge John Runde agreed with Mr. Fitzgerald’s request that she be sentenced consecutively for each of the three victims, but gave her substantial credits for jail time already served.
Judge Runde noted a probation officer’s report that Ms. Delgado has expressed remorse “sincerely,” and that the crash, though it caused “very serious harm,” was due to “bad judgment” by a young woman with no previous criminal history.
“I believe (the decision) was reasonable given the fact that we had three victims in this case,” Mr. Fitzgerald said after the verdict. “I was pleased with the decision and felt it entirely appropriate given the circumstances.”
“My heart goes out to the family members who are the true victims in this case,” Mr. Fitzgerald added. “I’m glad the victims’ families will have at least a small amount of closure.”
Tearful relatives of the Tongan royal family also spoke during the sentencing hearing, describing the impact on their family and the entire Tongan community.
“She loved her people, she loved her family,” Amelia Tupou Tonga spoke of Princess Tu’ipelehake, her first cousin. “Still our family suffers, our country suffers … but we are a forgiving people, and all we want today is justice.”
A weeping Ms. Delgado agreed to surrender at the women’s jail in Redwood City on Sept. 1.
She was also ordered to pay restitution to the families of the victims, and according to defense attorney Randy Moore, her driver’s license has been revoked by the Department of Motor Vehicles for three years.
“I don’t know when that time will come when she will want to drive again,” Mr. Moore said.
Outside the courtroom, Mr. Moore said he respected Judge Runde’s decision but was not pleased that his young client would be returned to jail.
“It doesn’t serve anybody’s interest at all that she has to go back there,” Mr. Moore said.
Ms. Delgado, who was uninjured in the crash, pulled over to the side of the highway after the crash and was later arrested and served about 11 months in county jail.
Prosecutors claimed Ms. Delgado had been speeding in excess of 80 mph and was dangerously weaving in and out of traffic as she raced another vehicle, thought to have been a black Cadillac Escalade, before the crash.
Mr. Moore had argued that Delgado used poor judgment in her lane change, but was not grossly negligent and had not been racing.
Though eyewitnesses to the crash testified during the nearly three-week trial that they had seen the Mustang speed past them, changing lanes quickly as it appeared to be racing another vehicle, jurors were not convinced that Ms. Delgado had been grossly negligent.
That the Escalade and its driver were never found also played into the jury’s decision that the evidence of racing was not compelling enough.
— Bay City News Service
