Proposed DUI law named for Clovis school leader fails. Fresno author calls it an injustice
A proposed DUI law, named for a Clovis school administrator who was killed in a 2018 hit-and-run crash, quietly failed to move forward in the state Legislature last month.
Called Gavin’s Law, Assembly Bill 582 authored by Assemblymember Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, would have increased penalties for fatal hit-and-run crashes.
It failed to get through the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 20. The committee did not provide an explanation on why it failed to get support.
Patterson called the bill’s failure an injustice that only worsens the heartache of the families who have lost loved ones.
“It has never been more clear that the ruling party in Sacramento cares more about criminals than they do about victims,” Patterson said. “They demonstrate that every time they are in session these days.”
Gavin’s Law gets its name from Gavin Gladding, a 43-year-old vice principal at Fort Washington Elementary School who was training for a marathon when he was struck by a truck along Friant Road shortly before 6 a.m. Sept. 16, 2018.
Rogelio Alvarez Maravilla was arrested five days later when he turned himself in. The 18-year-old man served 13 months of his three-year sentence.
Prosecutors argued in court that Maravilla had been drinking that night and left the scene to sober up and to hide evidence, including a broken windshield.
An identical version of AB 582 passed the Assembly in 2020 but failed after falling one vote short in the Senate Public Safety Committee.
Patterson’s office issued a news release that said, “When DUI drivers leave the scene and have time to sober up before being caught, they avoid a potential 15-year sentence for felony DUI charges.”
An assessment from the Appropriations Committee showed the bill would increase incarceration costs “in the millions of dollars” annually to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation budget.
Supporters of the bill argued stronger penalties for fleeing the scene would encourage drivers to stay after an accident.
The assessment notes that arguments against the bill included the overcrowding of California prisons and academic studies that show “little connection between a threat of prosecution and incarceration and a decrease in crime.”
Members of the Gladding family were not available for comment for this story. Neither was the family of Courtney Osegueda, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while leaving work in Oakland in February. Both families spoke in support of Gavin’s Law before the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee in April.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving issued a statement about AB 582, saying drunken driving is a “violent, 100% preventable crime” that kills more than 10,000 people every year and injures 300,000.
“Hit and run cases frequently involve a drunk driver who leave the scene of a crash to sober up and avoid DUI felony charges. The victims of these crimes deserve justice.”
Discussions about the future of the bill are ongoing, according to Patterson’s office.
This story was originally published June 2, 2021 at 11:28 AM.
