July trial date set for Rocklin man charged in I-80 deaths
A Solano County Superior Court judge on Monday set a mid-July trial date for a 39-year- old Rocklin man charged with the 2018 vehicular manslaughter deaths of a California Highway Patrol officer and a Philippines national while the two men were stopped near an Interstate 80 exit in Fairfield.
Sean Matthew Walker was scheduled to appear Monday morning in Department 7 for a readiness conference and trial setting, and Judge Tim Kam ordered him to return for a trial management conference at 1:30 p.m. July 7 and a jury trial at 8:30 a.m. July 13 in the Justice Building in Vallejo.
The pending proceedings come after months of rescheduled court dates, delays due in part to the ongoing pandemic and local and state public health advisories.
Walker’s latest court dates come after a two-day preliminary hearing in August last year, when Kam ruled there was enough evidence to proceed with a jury trial.
Walker is charged with two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter. The Solano County District Attorney alleges that the defendant, driving a large Chevrolet pickup truck, was traveling at a high rate of speed at about 9 a.m. Aug. 10, 2018, when, veering onto the westbound shoulder near the Manuel Campos Parkway exit in Fairfield, he slammed into CHP Officer Kirk Griess, 46, of Vacaville, and Jaime Bueza Manuel, 49, a resident of Vallejo who was employed as a caregiver.
The two victims were taken to NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield, where Griess and Manuel died. Walker was taken to Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center and was treated and later released.
Cour t records show that Walker was arrested on Aug. 16, five days after the vehicle he was driving struck Griess, a motorcycle officer, and Manuel during a traffic-enforcement stop.
Walker eventually posted $90,000 in bail and left Solano County Jail custody. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
As testimony during the preliminary hearing made clear, the eventual trial outcome likely will hinge on the few minutes before and after the fatal collision and whether the defendant was using his cellphone at the time, in addition to questions about Walker’s claim of sudden medical fears while driving, perhaps his family medical history, and the fact that he had a dualvalve heart monitor implanted in his chest after the highway collision.
During his closing argument, Deputy District Attorney Haroon Khan asserted there was enough evidence to hold Walker on the charges, saying the defendant’s driving pattern indicated “gross negligence.”
While driving westward in Vacaville five minutes before the collision, searching his cellphone for information about signs of a stroke, and after the crash, Walker made no attempt to dial 911, Khan said.
In his final remarks, Walker’s defense attorney, Guyton Jinkerson, disputed Khan’s claim that speed was a contributing factor.
“I don’t think speed is the issue here,” countered the San Jose- based lawyer. “Going 75, 65, or 50 — the result would have been the same. The issue is what caused this (fatal collision) to occur.”
Kam ruled that Walker showed gross negligence by not stopping earlier along I-80 if the defendant thought he was having a heart attack or stroke.
If Walker is found guilty of just one charge, he could face as little as formal probation or a stretch in state prison of two to six years, plus a fine up to $10,000.