Drunken Driver, Who Crashed Into Mission Viejo Home, Killing Man, Gets Prison

MISSION VIEJO, CA — A reckless DUI joyride that took a fatal turn in Mission Viejo has ended with the 30-year-old driver sentenced to state prison, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

30-year-old Kourosh Keshmiri, who crashed his friend's car into a Mission Viejo home while driving drunk, killing a slumbering resident, was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life..

Jurors in December convicted Kourosh Keshmiri of Mission Viejo of second- degree murder in the 2013 death of 60-year-old Kenneth Jackson.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker argued in the trial that Keshmiri was repeatedly warned about the dangers of drinking and driving and was so reckless the night he killed Jackson that the only just verdict is second-degree murder.

Jackson went to bed to watch TV and was sleeping when Keshmiri crashed his friend's 2005 Cadillac CTS-V into the victim's bedroom.

Keshmiri's evening started with a visit to Irvine with a friend to hang out at a hookah lounge, Walker said. His friend said in the three hours they were there he did not see him drinking, and the defendant was under court orders not to drink at that time because of prior drunk driving arrests and convictions, Walker said.

The two went to a restaurant to eat, but his friend said he still hadn't seen the defendant drinking there, Walker said. When they got home to Mission Viejo, Keshmiri asked his friend if he could take his car out for a "test drive," and because he did not appear to be drunk, his friend said OK, Walker added.

But as Keshmiri sped around the neighborhood, his friend asked him to stop and when he wouldn't, "He closed his eyes and braced for impact," Walker said.

The vehicle's "data event recorder" indicated that the car, which has a "400 horsepower rocket" under the hood, was going 86 mph when Keshmiri tried but failed to make a wide turn downhill, Walker said. Skid marks in front of the house indicate the vehicle may have slowed to 58 mph, Walker said.

"But the defendant was still going so fast the embankment served as a ramp and he went airborne," Walker said. "He flew 'Dukes of Hazzard'-style into (the home's) glass window."

Experts calculated that his blood-alcohol content must have been about .19 or .20, more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent, Walker said. A blood draw nearly three hours after the collision showed his blood-alcohol level at .15, Walker said.

Keshmiri previously had two other DUI convictions, OCDA reported.

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