UH student held without bail
Marshall Patrick Schoen, a UH student charged with intoxication manslaughter in a fatal wreck near campus, is denied bail until he has a lawyer.
A University of Houston student accused of killing a student and injuring another in a drunken-driving wreck near campus will remain in jail without bail, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Marshall Patrick Schoen, 23, made his initial court appearance after being arrested last week and charged with intoxication manslaughter. Schoen is accused of running over two pedestrians near the main campus.
Mark Tartaglio was killed and his girlfriend, Corina Burnett, was injured after being hit Friday around 12:10 a.m. while walking on a sidewalk in the 5000 block of Calhoun, near MacGregor Way.
State District Judge Mary Lou Keel said Wednesday that Schoen would be held without bail until he hires an attorney. Schoen declined the appointment of a lawyer. In court he said little except that he is planning on hiring a lawyer.
Schoen has been charged with intoxication manslaughter and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He also could face a charge of intoxication assault, depending on the severity of Burnett’s injuries.
In court, prosecutor Alison Baimbridge said Schoen was speeding around a vehicle that was making a left turn when his F-350 truck went onto the sidewalk, hitting the two people.
“He told police he was leaving a party,” Baimbridge said.
She said Schoen told police he had one mixed drink and three beers. A blood sample was taken after he was taken into custody. The results are pending.
As Schoen faced the judge, Houston police officer Don Egdorf watched from the front row of the gallery.
Egdorf often works with the district attorney’s vehicular assault unit, a group of prosecutors who are on call around-theclock and go to the scene of vehicular fatalities.
Egdorf is not working on Schoen’s case, though. He knew Tartaglio and his family.
“He was 20, and he was very involved in the hockey community, which is how I knew him,” Egdorf said. “His father coached my son. It’s been tough on (the family). It’s tough for all of us.”