Jury Convicts Former SRJC Coach In Crash Death Of SSU Student

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — A Sonoma County Superior Court jury Friday afternoon convicted a Santa Rosa man of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI in connection with a 2016 head-on collision that killed a Sonoma State University student and injured several other people.

The jury began deliberations around 9 a.m. Friday and announced it reached a verdict around 3:15 p.m.

Family members of the deceased Sonoma State business studies student, Paulette Geronimo Quiba, 21, of Oakley, broke down in tears as the verdicts were read.

The defendant, Logologoa Taumaloto Tevaseu, 36, stood with his head down next to his attorney, Joseph Stogner, as the verdicts were read.

The four-count complaint alleged that Tevaseu's blood-alcohol concentration was in excess of 0.15 percent, nearly twice the 0.08 percent considered intoxicated.

During closing arguments Thursday afternoon, Deputy District Attorney Andrew Lukas said Tevaseu was drinking alcohol from around 11 p.m. Nov. 4 until 6 a.m. Nov. 5.

An employee of the Department of Justice who testified for the prosecution estimated that Tevaseu's blood alcohol-concentration was approximately 0.22 percent around 9 p.m. on Nov. 5 when Tevaseu's 2006 Dodge Ram truck collided with Quiba's 2015 Toyota Corolla on southbound Lakeville Highway. Tevaseu refused to take a chemical test at the collision scene, according to the prosecution.

Lukas told the jury that Tevaseu is guilty of second-degree murder with implied malice and that he had a conscious disregard of human life because he knew the dangers of driving while impaired. Tevaseu had a previous DUI conviction from October 2011.

"He was aware how much he drank, and he tried to sweat it out playing basketball," Lukas said about Tevaseu's activities while intoxicated on Nov. 5.

Defense attorney Stogner argued against a second-degree murder conviction. He told the jury in his closing argument there was evidence at the trial that Tevaseu has a "significant tolerance" of alcohol that enabled him to function that day.

Tevaseu drove his daughter from Healdsburg to Pleasant Hill around 10 a.m., about 11 hours before the collision. He played basketball for at least three hours, took his children to a dog park, ate pizza at a restaurant and drove to Pleasant Hill at 6 p.m. to pick up his daughter, Stogner said.

"His actions were stable and steady during that day," Stogner said.

Nevertheless, Stogner said Tevaseu's decisions were "stupid" and he made "terrible mistakes."

"The only offense beyond a reasonable doubt is he was reckless," Stogner said.

Tevaseu talked on a cellphone for about 45 minutes on the drive back to Sonoma County around 8 p.m., and he said he was confused about his location.

"He had no idea where he was on a road he drove every day," Lukas told the jury.

Tevaseu crossed double yellow lines to pass vehicles on Lakeville Highway before the collision around 9 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.

Three other vehicles subsequently collided with Quiba's Toyota or into each other, and the occupants of those vehicles suffered moderate injuries, the CHP said. They were named as the victims in the gross vehicular manslaughter and DUI charges.

"The trial is about holding him accountable for the choices he made. This defendant committed second-degree murder with implied malice," Lukas said.

Stogner argued against the second-degree murder charge and the accusation Tevaseu acted with conscious disregard for human life.

To convict Tevaseu of the murder charge, Stogner said, "You have to believe he didn't care if other people lived or died, and that is crossing the Rubicon in my opinion."

"We need to hold him accountable, but we must not convict him of a crime he didn't commit," Stogner said Thursday.

Jurors did not want to discuss their verdict Friday afternoon other than to say the trial was difficult and emotional for everyone.

"This will affect us for a very long time," a male juror said.

A date for Tevaseu's sentencing will be set Jan. 7.

• Deadly Lakeville Hwy Crash: Driver Booked On Suspicion of Murder
• SRJC Coach Charged In Crash That Killed East Bay 21-Year-Old
• Former SRJC Coach Pleads Not Guilty In SSU Student's Crash Death

By Bay City News Service

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