A driver whose guilty plea was tied to a wrong-way crash that killed a Los Angeles sheriff’s recruit has withdrawn the plea, his lawyer said, setting the case on a new path toward trial.
Nicholas Gutierrez of Diamond Bar withdrew his guilty plea after more than a dozen crash victims spoke in court Friday and after the judge decided on a one-year jail sentence, according to defense attorney Alexandra Kazarian. Kazarian said the withdrawal came as part of a decision by the defense and that the next step would be to litigate the case rather than accept the prior plea terms.
In court, Kazarian said the case would move forward to trial and attributed the change to Gutierrez’s medical condition. She said: “Based on the fact that he has been diagnosed with a seizure disorder, we have withdrawn the plea and will go to trial,” a statement she made in connection with the plea withdrawal.
Before the plea was withdrawn, Gutierrez had agreed to a deal with prosecutors that included an eight-year suspended prison sentence and placement on probation for five years, in exchange for pleading guilty to one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and nine counts of reckless driving causing injuries.
Authorities said the crash occurred in 2022 in suburban Whittier when Gutierrez was driving an SUV that veered onto the wrong side of the road. They said he struck 25 recruits who were out on a morning run as part of a larger group running in formation.
Authorities said their investigation found Gutierrez appeared to have fallen asleep while driving. Ten recruits were seriously injured in the crash, and Alejandro Martinez later died from his injuries eight months afterward.
A message seeking comment was sent to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
The case had previously been set on a plea track, but Gutierrez’s decision to rescind that plea changes how the court will resolve disputed issues, including how investigators and prosecutors characterize what caused the vehicle to travel into oncoming traffic. MSI previously reported that a California man pleaded guilty in the wrong-way crash that killed a sheriff recruit in an earlier stage.