South Bay DUI Suspect Charged With Rare ‘Watson’ Murder: Report

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — A South Bay man has been charged with four counts of murder for an alleged DUI crash on southbound state Highway 85 in San Jose last week that left four people dead, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

Rabbi Kumar Khanna, 26, of San Jose, is being held in Santa Clara County Jail on no bail following the crash reported shortly before 10:15 p.m. last Wednesday on southbound Highway 85 south of Cottle Road.

Charging murder in a DUI case is considered rare, The San Jose Mercury News reports, noting that even in fatal accidents involving impaired drivers prosecutors typically charge defendants with vehicular manslaughter.

But defendants with at least one prior DUI conviction can be charged with a “Watson murder” under a landmark 1981 California Supreme Court ruling, The Mercury notes.

The ruling is based on a case in which Robert Watson was convicted of second-degree murder for causing a fatal crash after leaving a bar, The Riverside Press Enterprise reports.

Nearly all of those convicted of DUI in California are required to sign a “Watson advisement,” acknowledging that they're aware that the dangers to oneself and others are a foreseeable consequence of impaired driving, and that should a future DUI lead to a fatal accident they could be charged with second-degree murder.

Khanna falls into that category after being convicted of misdemeanor DUI in 2019, The Mercury News reports.

The Santa Clara County medical examiner's office has identified the victims who died as Amador Landa, 26, Johnnie Perez Damian, 26, Issac Landa, 25, and Shannon Galbraith, 25.

The California Highway Patrol had said last week that all four were San Jose residents. Khanna suffered minor injuries as did another passenger, a 24-year-old man, according to the CHP.

Khanna, who had a suspended license because of a prior drunk driving conviction from a case that occurred in December 2018, was arraigned Friday on four counts of murder and driving under the influence, according to the district attorney's office.

Court documents filed in the case state that a Dodge Durango, later determined to be registered to a family member of Khanna's, was seen traveling near 100 mph and swerving on the highway before the crash.

Breath tests on Khanna came back with blood-alcohol contents of .206 and .165 percent, well over the .08 percent legal limit, according to court documents.

Khanna will next return to court on July 13, according to the district attorney's office.

A Facebook fundraiser to raise money for two of the victims, brothers Issac and Amador Landa, had raised more than $2,400 as of Monday and can be found at https://www.facebook.com/donate/1128504147499047/3069150609816302/.

A GoFundMe page created to support one of the other victims, Shannon Galbraith, had raised more than $3,000 as of Monday afternoon. It can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-shannons-family-pay-for-memorial.

Patch editor Gideon Rubin and Bay City News contributed to this report

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