Not Guilty Pleas Entered in Crash That Left Marine on Life Support

A 21-year-old woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three felony charges in a hit-and-run crash that left a decorated Marine hospitalized on life support. Jessica Marie Bloom is accused of driving drunk last Sunday when she hit Gunnery Sgt. Dave Smith from behind on his motorcycle as he waited for a red light in Rancho Bernardo.

Bloom is being held on $100,000 bail and faces a maximum of nine years in prison if she is convicted, said Deputy District Attorney Matthew Williams. He said Bloom's blood-alcohol limit was measured at .37 percent after her arrest, more than four times the legal limit for driving.

Police said Smith, 34, was eastbound on Bernardo Center Drive near West Bernardo Drive about 12:30 p.m. last Sunday, waiting at a red light, when he was hit from behind by a woman driving a Chevrolet TrailBlazer.

The collision launched Smith onto the hood of the mid-size SUV, then into the street, Williams said.

The prosecutor said Bloom got out of the vehicle and appeared to be upset, frantically asking witnesses, “Is he dead?”

The defendant loaded her front bumper into her SUV and drove off, but witnesses followed her to her apartment a short distance away and called police, Williams said.

Defense attorney Peter Liss told Judge David Szumowski that Bloom left the crash scene because she wanted to tell her husband, who is also a Marine, what had happened.

“She has extreme remorse,” Liss told the judge.

Outside court, Liss told reporters that the defendant—who hails from a small town in Indiana—was devastated by what happened.

“She made some pretty bad judgments the other day, and she understands that,” the attorney said. “She feels terrible about the victim in this case and literally spends all of her time just hoping that he gets better.”

Liss said Bloom—who has been married for eight months—might have
been distraught and feeling alone because her husband was about to be deployed soon.

The victim's mother, Catherine Joiner, said she was astounded by the defendant's blood-alcohol level.

“It just kind of blew my mind,” she said. “I don't even know how she could even stay conscious at that level.”

Joiner said the outpouring of love and support from the community for her son has been overwhelming.

Smith, a 17-year military veteran who was awarded a Bronze Star for valor, served four tours of duty overseas and survived being injured by a roadside bomb.

“It's unfair,” said Smith's fiancée, Vanessa Potts. “We've been through a lot this past couple years and he's been through a lot in his military career, surviving an IED explosion. How do you come home and get hurt doing something that you love? I mean, he genuinely loves riding. That day, the last message I got from him was how beautiful the day was, and how he wished he could ride all day.”

Bloom is charged with two counts of felony DUI causing injury and one count of felony hit-and-run causing a victim to be comatose. She will be back in court Aug. 12 for a readiness conference and Aug. 16 for a preliminary hearing.

City News Service contributed to this report.