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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
UPDATED: Driver in Fatal Crash Near Santa Fe Held on $3 Million Bond
By Deborah Baker
Associated Press
SANTA FE — A suspected drunk driver accused of striking a car carrying five Santa Fe teenagers, killing four of them, was ordered held Tuesday on $3 million cash bond.
Scott Owens, 28, was charged with four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of great bodily injury by vehicle in the deaths of four teens on Sunday. He appeared in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court by video from the county detention center.
The District Attorney's Office had requested the $3 million cash-only bond, citing the seriousness of the charges.
Authorities said Owens was driving the wrong way on a two-lane road outside Santa Fe when his sport utility vehicle broadsided the car full of teenagers early Sunday, killing four and seriously injuring a fifth.
A glass pipe of the type that could be used to smoke marijuana was found in the truck and will be tested, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said.
Owens could face 30 years in prison on those charges, and as much as 50 years if a sentencing enhancement is used because of a previous DWI conviction, chief Deputy District Attorney Charles Baldonado said. Prosecutors were reviewing Owens' criminal history.
Owens, who told Judge George Anaya Jr. that he had been employed by a welding business for about eight months, said he couldn't afford to hire an attorney.
Prosecutors have said they haven't decided whether to take the case to a preliminary hearing before a judge or to a grand jury.
Solano has said Owens smelled of alcohol but refused to take a breath test at the crash site. Authorities took a blood sample, a test on which would show intoxication.
It usually takes four to five weeks to get the results back from the sole New Mexico laboratory that handles them, Solano said. He said he's asked the lab to try to rush the testing.
The $3 million bond would likely ensure that Owens remains in jail, and that's "better than him getting out," said Joey Stephen, 16, of Santa Fe, a friend of the victims who showed up at Magistrate Court.
Killed in the crash were Julian Martinez, Alyssa Trouw and Kate Klein, all 16, and Rose Simmons, 15.
The car's driver, Avree Koffman, remained hospitalized in critical condition at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, hospital officials said Tuesday.
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