By Fiona Davis
SACRAMENTO, CA – In a very unusual scene at a pre-trial hearing held in Sacramento County Superior Court Monday, a prosecutor apologized to a defendant accused of vehicular manslaughter, as the prosecution was unable to agree to a resolution that would have avoided a jury trial.
Armando Ybarra Jr. has been charged with both vehicular manslaughter and driving while under the influence of alcohol after an incident in March 2017 that resulted in the death of a male victim.
In previous court proceedings, the district attorney’s office indicated that, based on their initial calculation of the charges, they would be able to reach a 20 year resolution on Ybarra’s case. This resolution was meant to be both agreeable to the defense and prosecution, and would avoid the need for a jury trial.
However, upon reexamination and further calculation, the prosecution found that a 20 year prison sentence could not be reached based on the minimum sentencing guidelines for the charges against Ybarra. Without this resolution, the defendant must now face a jury trial.
On Monday, Judge David De Alba opened the preliminary proceedings for Ybarra’s trial by expressing the effort he had made to work with attorneys to facilitate a resolution for the case, stating that he had had numerous discussions with the defense and prosecution on “Thursday, twice on Friday, and briefly [that] morning.”
In response to Judge De Alba’s statement, District Attorney Charles Coleman affirmed that the prosecution was unable to agree upon the 20-year deal they had previously indicated as a possibility.
“I can represent to you that I firmly believed that we [would] be able to reach a 20-year resolution on the case. Unfortunately, my calculation of how the credits and time would work did not lead me or my office [to believe] that that would be an acceptable resolution,” he stated directly to the defendant.
While Coleman cited the need to follow the minimum sentencing guidelines tied to the charges the defendant faces as part of the reason for the prosecution’s inability to agree to a 20-year resolution, he also indicated that the resolution did not meet the expectations or promises made to the victim’s family.
“It certainly is not the type of resolution or result I talked to [the victim’s] family about how we would resolve this case,” Coleman said.
After making the prosecution’s position clear, Coleman addressed the defendant directly, and apologized for having suggested that a 20 year deal was ever a possibility.
“I don’t know if that got your hopes up or not. All I can say is I represented…that I believed that we would be able to find a meaningful resolution for all parties, and we were [unable] to do that,” Coleman stated to the defendant.
In response, Ybarra’s court appointed defense attorney – who Judge De Alba referred to as Mr. Yee — lauded his client’s ability to be “more understanding” than Yee himself was, and expressed his frustration with the proceedings so far.
Yee noted that while the defense had made several offers to the prosecution in an effort to come to a resolution in the case, the DA’s office had never provided an offer to the defense.
Just as he made his disappointment in the prosecution clear, Yee also told the court that he and the defendant were ready to proceed with a jury trial.
“We effectively have very little choice at this point,” Yee stated resolutely.
Jury selection for Ybarra’s trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.
