By Ned Meiners
SACRAMENTO, CA – A toxicology report released at a preliminary hearing in Sacramento County Superior Court this week revealed that Robert Antonio—facing felony vehicular manslaughter charges—had methamphetamine in his system when he was involved in a fatal car collision last August.
Although he claims he was just tired and that he had not used the drug before the accident, a positive test was enough for the court to set arraignment for April 30, and a trial the next month. He could be sentenced, if convicted, to up to 15 years in state prison.
At 6:10 a.m. on the morning of August 2, 2020, the defendant was driving on Highway 16 east of Sacramento, when the car he was operating veered into the opposite lane and collided with an on-coming vehicle, killing the driver.
Antonio maintains he had fallen asleep at the wheel. Prosecutors argue it was drug use.
Inspection of the vehicle, which did not belong to Antonio but to his employer Patricia Treadway, revealed methamphetamine and a pipe stored in a jewelry box.
The defendant was hospitalized at the UC Davis Medical Center where he lapsed in and out of consciousness. According to California Highway Patrol officers Antonio denied knowledge of the drugs. “What are they saying I was under the influence of?”
Antonio claimed he had been helping some friends move the night before and had not gotten a lot of sleep.
On August 23, Antonio spoke again with the California Highway Patrol Office, and the CHP said the defendant was candid about his drug use, which he had struggled with over the years. He told officers he used meth 36 hours before the accident.
While classified as a stimulant, prolonged use of methamphetamine can have the opposite effect.
CHP witnesses described a crashing effect that can occur with meth users after their initial high has worn off, where “[t]he body will shut down which is known as a crash effect. Even though that individual may not feel high, that is a direct effect of consuming that drug and being under the influence of that drug.”
Matthew Nakayama, a criminalist at the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, stated that when he tested blood drawn from the defendant after the accident, it contained 268 nanograms-per-liter methamphetamine. In Nakayama’s opinion any amount of methamphetamine over 200 nanograms-per-liter is enough to show recreational drug use.
While the evidence indicates that defendant used methamphetamine at some point before the accident, the prosecution will have to prove that the effects of the drug were a cause of the accident at trial.
Upon cross-examination, Defense Attorney Ben Williams asked Nakayama if there was any other reason that he could think of why an individual might be excessively sleepy.
“Yes, I can certainly imagine things. For example, an individual who has not slept for a day being very tired. Common sense things like that,” said Nakayama.
Ned Meiners is a Legal Studies student at City College San Francisco. Originally from Maine, he currently resides on Bernal Hill in San Francisco.
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