Fresno motorcyclist who drove intoxicated, killed passenger after 100 mph crash sentenced
A Fresno motorcyclist will spend 12 years in prison after pleading no contest Tuesday to charges he led law enforcement officers on a high speed chase that ended with him crashing and killing his passenger.
Cline Alex Garner III, 37, accepted his felony conviction on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and evading an officer resulting in death.
A charge of possession of a controlled substance was dropped, as part of the plea agreement.
Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies said the deadly crash happened on July 2, 2019 at about 4:45 a.m. in central Fresno. Deputies had received a call about two people on a motorcycle acting suspiciously near Gettysburg and Vagedes avenues.
Deputies tried to pull his motorcycle over near Gettysburg and Palm avenues. But Garner took off with his passenger, Gaylene Herrera, 46, reaching speeds of up to 100 mph while heading south on Palm Avenue.
Officers found the motorcycle about a mile away, near Palm and Santa Fe. Garner had crashed into a center median, ejecting both riders.
Herrera, of Clovis, and Cline were taken to the hospital where Herrera later died. Garner underwent surgery and recovered.
Garner’s public defender Maribel Romo said her client was facing 15 years to life, had he not agreed to a plea deal. Prosecutors had earlier charged Garner with murder but amended it to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Judge Samuel Delasandro told Garner that as part of his plea agreement his maximum prison sentence will be 12 years and he can not ask for a lower term at his sentencing, which is June 1.
He also warned Garner that because his conviction is a strike, he will face serious consequences if he commits another serious felony.
“At a minimum your sentence will be doubled and if you commit a third strike you can be sent to prison for life,” the judge said.
