KXO RADIO - Teen trial pushed to next week

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Teen trial pushed to next week

Todays is : Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Written by George Gale
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
(Toribio Gama trial to begin Tuesday)….District Attorney Gilbert Otero says court dark days push the start of the trial back. Alejandro Toribio Gama is facing second-degree murder charges. The teen is being tried as an adult. Otero says motions will be heard Thursday. He said Superior Court is dark Friday and Monday. Jury selection is set to begin September 29. Toribio Gama is alleged to have been the driver of the SUV that crashed into a canal near Westmorland on July 18 last year. Six people drowned in the canal. The SUV was reportedly carrying 20 suspected illegal immigrants at the time of the collision. Westmorland police tried to stop the SUV after it was spotted at 11:00 pm that night, driving with its lights off. The SUV sped away. Officers gave chase, but police soon called off the pursuit. Forty-five minutes later it was reported the SUV had crashed into a nearby canal. A 12-year-old girl was left orphaned after her father, mother and 10-year-old brother all died in the collision. The girl was in the SUV, but she survived the crash. Toribio Gama fled the scene, but was found two days later in a motel in Brawley, where he was arrested.