RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A West Valley Superior Court judge threw out a murder
charge Friday filed against an Ontario man who failed to help his girlfriend
as she died of a drug overdose.
Prosecutors argued that Andrew Girvan, 32,
effectively murdered 23-year-old Miranda Daly on Aug. 13, 2007, because
he supplied her with drugs at his Ontario home.
In addition, Girvan failed to help Daly as
she lay incapacitated, and he threatened to kill other people at the
home who insisted that Daly, of Corona, needed medical attention, prosecutors
said.
Judge Mary Fuller apparently disagreed that
Girvan's actions rose to the level of murder, and dismissed the second-degree
murder charge.
Girvan's defense attorney had filed a motion
to dismiss both the murder charge and an involuntary manslaughter charge.
Fuller ruled that Girvan must stand trial for
involuntary manslaughter.
The difference between the potential prison
sentences for second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter are
substantial.
If Girvan were convicted of second-degree murder,
he would face a prison sentence of 15 years to life. Involuntary manslaughter
carries sentences of two, three or four years.
In her motion to dismiss the charges, Donna
Fernandez, Girvan's attorney, argued that there was no evidence that
Girvan forced Daly to ingest the ecstasy and morphine that killed her.
Simply supplying drugs that contribute to death
is not tantamount
to murder, she argued.
"Handing someone a gun is not the equivalent
of shooting them," Fernandez wrote. "If this evidence is sufficient
for the murder charge to lie, anyone who sells or furnishes a drug to
someone who subsequently dies will be subject to murder charge if the
drug is a contributing factor to their death.
"Such is not the law."
In his response to Fernandez's motion, Deputy
District Attorney Michael Dowd argued that Girvan's actions met the
standard of "implied malice" necessary for a second-degree murder conviction.
"By giving her the drugs and then standing
idly by, he showed a conscious disregard for her life," Dowd said.
Dowd said that three other people at Girvan's
home saw that Daly was in need of medical attention and urged Girvan
to do something.
He responded angrily to the suggestions, ordering
no one to touch Daly and threatening to kill anyone who did. He was
also walking around his home with guns, Dowd wrote.
"The defendant stated, `When she shops breathing,
that's when we have a problem,"' Dowd wrote. "The victim did stop breathing
due to the actions by word and deed of the defendant. He has a problem.
He murdered her. He is the cause of her death."
After the hearing, Daly's mother, Debbe Case,
was visibly upset over the judge's ruling.
"I'm very shocked," Case said. "I can't even
process it right now because he clearly, intentionally wanted her to
die. It's clear in all his actions. ... How can (Fuller) say there was
no intent to murder?"
The court set a trial date of Nov. 17.
In addition to the involuntary manslaughter
charge, Girvan faces a felony firearm possession charge and two felony
charges of possession of drugs for sale.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A judge increased bail to $1 million Wednesday for an
Ontario man accused of failing to get medical help for his girlfriend as
she died of a drug overdose.
The move came less than a week after prosecutors
charged Andrew Girvan with murder in connection with the Aug. 12 death of
Miranda Daly.
Girvan, 31, pleaded not guilty to the charge during
his arraignment Wednesday morning in West Valley Superior Court.
The case against Girvan is unusual because it generally
is not illegal for ordinary citizens to refuse to help others in need.
Girvan's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Donna
Fernandez, said Wednesday that Girvan loved Daly, and called the murder
charge against her client "outrageous."
"I don't believe he ever expected her to die, let
alone intended for her to die," Fernandez said. "Her death was the tragic
result of the party lifestyle she had chosen."
Until last week, Girvan had been charged with involuntary
manslaughter. Prosecutors upped the charge to second-degree murder Friday
after evaluating testimony from a preliminary hearing two weeks ago.
Several witnesses testified during the hearing
that they were in Girvan's home as Daly slowly died of an overdose of morphine
and Ecstasy.
The witnesses said they wanted to get medical help
for the 23-year-old woman, but Girvan would not let them.
They said he walked around the home carrying an
assault rifle and other weapons, and
led them to believe they would be harmed if they took Daly to the hospital
or called paramedics.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Dowd said the
murder charge is warranted because Girvan acted with a "conscious disregard"
for Daly's life.
Daly's friends and family have said the woman was
not a drug user, and they believe Girvan intended for the woman to die.
Girvan's bail had been set at $75,000 when he was
facing the manslaughter charge.
Dowd asked that it be raised to $1 million because
that amount is standard for murder cases in San Bernardino County.
Judge Mary Fuller agreed.
Girvan, who remains in jail, will return to court
on March 28 for a pretrial hearing. His trial is tentatively scheduled to
begin on April 14.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - An Ontario man accused of failing to help his girlfriend
as she died of a drug overdose is now facing a murder charge.
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
take Girvan to trial.
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.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A novel homicide case cleared its first major legal hurdle
Friday when a judge ordered an Ontario man to stand trial for allegedly
failing to help his girlfriend as she died from a drug overdose.
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.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A novel homicide case cleared its first major legal
hurdle Friday when a judge ordered an Ontario man to stand trial for
allegedly failing to help his girlfriend as she died from a drug overdose.
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.