Judge denies motion to dismiss murder charge Woman to be tried in January for boy’s death

A Sutter County Superior Court judge denied a motion to dismiss a count of murder charged against a Yuba City woman who allegedly killed a Yuba City boy with her car while she was driving drunk.

On Friday, family and friends of Alec Flores – the 13-year-old hit and killed by a car on the morning of Oct. 7, 2019 while he walked to school – stood outside a

second floor courtroom waiting to be allowed in. Out of the group of around 30-40 people, only 14 were allowed to sit inside due to social distancing restrictions.

The defendant, Constance Addison, 36, was already inside the courtroom seated next to her attorney, Roberto Marquez, when the spectators were let in. Addison was arrested on Oct. 7 after fleeing the scene of the collision. She posted $100,000 bail the next day and has been out of custody ever since. Addison will be tried for murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run resulting in injury or death, and misdemeanor child endangerment.

Judge Dennis Buckley said he had reviewed the motion filed by Marquez and the response from Deputy

District Attorney Diego Heimlich and had reviewed the transcript of the preliminary hearing from May 7 where Judge Laura Davis ruled that Addison could be tried on all charges.

Marquez argued that Davis was wrong to hold Addison to answer for murder because the standard to try a person for murder had not been met in this case – specifically, that Addison did not commit the act with implied malice.

Heimlich said the court’s purpose was limited Friday because it simply had to rule on whether the judge at the preliminary hearing made a mistake. The burden of proof for a preliminary hearing is not as high as for a jury trial, meaning a prosecutor only has to prove that a crime reasonably could have been committed based on the evidence.

He cited Addison’s .24 blood alcohol level after her arrest (the California legal limit is .08 BAC) and her driving off the roadway to hit Flores in the back as enough evidence that she engaged in dangerous driving.

After hearing both attorneys’ arguments, Buckley dismissed Marquez’s motion. At the conclusion of the hearing, Addison and Marquez exited the courtroom from a side door as those in attendance in support of the Flores family left from the main door. At previous hearings where Addison appeared, spectators had made derogatory comments to Addison as she left the courtroom.

Addison’s jury trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 5, 2021. A trial readiness conference will take place at 9 a.m. on Dec. 31.