Lake Forest Wrong Way Fatal Crash Trial Judgment Expected

LAKE FOREST, CA — A DUI case from a fatal Lake Forest crash in 2013 has finally come to judgement. The already convicted drunken driver should be found guilty of second-degree murder for the deadly wrong-way crash in Lake Forest, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday, but the defendant's attorney argued that her client is guilty of a lesser charge.

William Joseph Carroll, 51, of Mission Viejo, had a blood-alcohol level of about .23 -- nearly three times the legal limit -- when his Ford F-250 pickup truck slammed into a Toyota Sienna minivan driven by 36-year-old Ana Martinez about 11:40 p.m. on May 7, 2013, said Deputy District Attorney Daniel Feldman.

Martinez, who was driving to work at the time, was "crushed to death" in the crash, Feldman said.

The prosecutor said Carroll was making a left turn from El Toro Road to Santa Margarita Parkway in Lake Forest when he veered into oncoming traffic. A witness told investigators that Carroll ran a red light, he said.

Witnesses "describe Mr. Carroll's truck like a train out of nowhere," Feldman said, adding that the force of the collision was like "100 mph" when combining the speeds of both vehicles.

Carroll's attorney, Sara Ross, told jurors it was " a case of government overreach."

Ross acknowledged that Carroll was "responsible for the killing of Ana Martinez, but he's not guilty of murder."

Both drivers attempted to avoid each other, she said, adding that the intersection is "a bit confusing."

"It's a very confusing road and you're going to need that context to determine whether this was a murder," Ross said.

Feldman said Carroll faces a second-degree murder charge rather than vehicular manslaughter because when he was convicted of DUI on Sept. 11, 2008, he was warned he would be charged with murder in the event of involvement in a DUI-related death.

Ashley Ludwig and City News Service contributed to this report.

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