The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal agreed with a Superior Court judge’s ruling that Tommie Lee Cole was ineligible for relief under a change in state law that affects defendants in some murder cases.
Cole, now 35, was sentenced to 30 years to life after being found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder stemming from the Feb. 26, 2012, crash that killed Beau Josh Owen Fluker and Jeffrey Daniel Gilstrap.
Fluker, 26, and Gilstrap, 23, were traveling home after working late shifts at a Lancaster Walmart store when their vehicle was broadsided at the intersection of Avenue J and 20th Street West just before 2:30 a.m. and came to rest atop a fire hydrant.
Cole — who was arrested for DUI in 2009 and attended an alcohol program for six months — had signed an acknowledgement that outlined the dangers of drinking and driving, including the possibility that he could be charged with murder if he killed someone while driving under the influence of alcohol. In a January 2016 ruling, a separate appellate court panel rejected the defense’s contention that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction on the murder charges.
“Defendant’s prior drunk driving offense, his blood-alcohol level and decision to drive while intoxicated, and his highly dangerous acts of speeding and attempting to ‘beat’ a yellow light are substantial evidence to support the jury’s conclusion that the subjective standard for implied malice was satisfied,” that appellate court panel noted in the January 2016 ruling.
Along with second-degree murder, Cole was convicted in February 2014 of two counts each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and one count each of driving under the influence and driving with a 0.08 percent blood alcohol content.
Previous related stories:
State’s high court won’t review case of man convicted in DUI crash that killed 2
Murder conviction upheld in Lancaster crash that killed 2
Cole gets 30 years to life in DUI double death
DUI double murder trial begins
Man ordered to trial in DUI double murder case
Hundreds say goodbye to Beau and Jeff
Man charged with murder in fatal DUI crash, bail set at $2 million
Family, coworkers remember men lost in alleged DUI crash
Alleged DUI driver kills two in Lancaster
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DUI says
Keep the trash locked up.