Murder charge thrown out for Ontario man

Andrew Girvan had been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the August death of 23-year-old Miranda Daly.

Prosecutors upped the charge Friday, saying they now believe Girvan was not only negligent but malicious when he failed to summon medical help for the woman and then interfered with other people who tried to step in.

"By allowing her to die in the way she did, he acted in conscious disregard of human life," Deputy District Attorney Michael Dowd said. "So we feel this is an appropriate charge."

The manslaughter charge carried a penalty of up to four years in prison. The second-degree murder count could land Girvan behind bars for 15 years to life.

The new charge marks a remarkable turn of events in the case.

Daly's family and friends initially had trouble persuading the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office to consider Daly's death a homicide.

The circumstances of the death posed tricky legal issues for prosecutors because it generally is not illegal for an average citizen to refuse to help someone in need.

Only after heavy lobbying by Daly's mother, Debbe Case, did prosecutors charge Girvan, 31, with manslaughter.

That charge cleared a major legal hurdle last week when a judge ruled prosecutors had sufficient evidence to

Three witnesses testified at a preliminary hearing that they were inside Girvan's home with Daly in the early morning of Aug. 12 as she slowly slipped away from an excess of morphine and Ecstasy. /p>

All three said it was clear to them that the woman was dying as she lay unconscious for more than six hours.

They testified that they pleaded with Girvan to allow them to take the woman to a hospital, but he refused.

They said Girvan, a reputed drug dealer, walked around the house with a gun and led them to believe they would be harmed if they contacted authorities.

Dowd said the strength of that testimony prompted him and his supervisors to re-evaluate the case.

The prosecutor also said he believed evidence in the hearing suggested Girvan supplied Daly with the drugs.

Girvan's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Donna Fernandez, did not return a call seeking comment Friday afternoon.

Fernandez said last week that she believed prosecutors were stretching to charge her client with manslaughter, and she was considering filing a motion to have the charge dismissed.

Case, meanwhile, said Friday she has always believed Girvan deserved to be charged with murder.

The announcement of the murder charge gave her a glimmer of hope that Girvan may face the sort of justice she believes he deserves.

"I'm so relieved," she said. "I can't even tell you. All I could do when I found out this morning was just cry."

Girvan is due for arraignment Wednesday in West Valley Superior Court.

Dowd filed a request to have Girvan's bail increased from $75,000 to $1million as a result of the new charge.

The higher amount is standard for murder cases.

GGirvan remains in jail.

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The judge ruled prosecutors may press forward with an involuntary manslaughter charge against 31-year-old Andrew Girvan despite laws that say ordinary citizens have no legal obligation to help each other in times of need.

"It's an interesting case," Judge Raymond Van Stockum said in handing down his ruling. "It has some interesting issues, and I'm sure it will be an interesting trial."

Girvan is charged in connection with the Aug. 12 death of Miranda Daly. The 23-year-old Corona woman died of an overdose of morphine and Ecstacy in Girvan's home in the 2500 block of Imperial Place.

Generally, the only time citizens are legally required to help each other is when they have a specific duty to do so. A parent, for example, is obligated to help his child. An on-duty lifeguard is obligated to help somebody drowning in front of him in a swimming pool.

Girvan did not share any of these traditional relationships with Daly.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office, however, broadly interpreted these laws to construct a theory to hold him responsible for her death anyway.

They say he not only failed to help Daly as she died, but also stopped several other people from coming to her aid.

By doing so, he implicitly assumed the responsibility to get her medical care, they claim.

During a two-day preliminary hearing that concluded Friday in West Valley Superior Court, three witnesses who were in the home with Girvan and Daly testified that they pleaded with Girvan to allow them to take the woman to a hospital as she laid unconscious for more than six hours.

They said Girvan, a reputed drug dealer, appeared indifferent to the woman's condition.

They testified he flatly refused to allow them to get her help, walked around the house with a gun and led them to believe they would be harmed if they contacted authorities.

Girvan's attorney, Donna Fernandez, argued in court that Girvan was no more responsible for Daly's death than the three witnesses.

She said the trio had ample opportunity to call for an ambulance but, like Girvan, chose not to.

She argued that they exaggerated the supposed threats from Girvan after the fact to justify their own lack of action.

Outside the courtroom, Fernandez said she may seek to have the involuntary manslaughter charge dismissed before a trial begins.

"I think the DA is really trying to push the envelope with this," she said.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Dowd said the judge's decision to hold Girvan for trial proved the prosecution's legal theory is sound.

Though the precedent may be thin, the facts of the case are strong, he said.

"You always wonder how a court is going to react to a set of facts that you don't see often," Dowd said. "This judge took it very seriously."

Daly's mother, Debbe Case, campaigned tirelessly to convince the district attorney to charge Girvan with homicide.

Although she contends he deserves to be charged with murder, she said Friday she was greatly relieved by the judge's ruling.

"From the beginning they haven't given me a lot of hope he would be prosecuted at all," she said.

A second suspect, Robert Macias, is charged with making criminal threats against two of the three witnesses.

Prosecutors allege he told them he would harm them or their families if they went to the police about Daly's death.

Girvan and Macias have pleaded not guilty.

They remained in jail and are set to return to court on March 5 to be arraigned.