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It has taken over 18 months, but arrests have finally been made in the murder of Matthew Toste who was gunned down in a downtown Santa Rosa parking lot in December 2006.

This killing has elevated concerns about the expansion of violent gang activity in Santa Rosa and the safety of the downtown area. It has also shown the increasing violence and criminal activity which has grown around Seventh Street since the opening of the Seven Ultra Lounge.

A criminal grand jury recently handed down indictments against five Santa Rosa men — Joseph Kenneth Lopez Sr., 39; his son, Joseph Kenneth Lopez Jr., 19; Paul Whiterock, 28; Nicholas Mejia, 30; and Raul Lopez-Granados, 20 — accusing them of murder, participating in a criminal street gang; conspiring to commit assault with a deadly weapon and other offenses.

If convicted on all counts, the five could end up spending the rest of their lives in prison.

It’s an encouraging development. The public has struggled to understand why it has taken such a long time to file charges in a killing that occurred in such a public place and with so many apparent witnesses on hand.

According to the indictment, all five men “talked about going to Club Seven Ultra Lounge that night to get retaliation against rival gang members for beating up Nico Mejia.” The indictment didn’t clarify the allegation, although police earlier said the men were waiting for rivals they knew were going to be leaving the Seven Ultra Lounge later that night. They were intending on attacking these rivals once they entered the parking lot to return to their cars.

However, that Saturday night, Toste, 32, a Santa Rosa father of a 5-year-old boy, had attended a company Christmas party at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel after which he and three others headed for Seven Ultra Lounge. Police say that after they parked at the Seventh Street parking garage, two women in his group were confronted by five gang members who made sexually provocative comments.

When one grabbed one of the women on the bottom, words were exchanged and punches were thrown. At one point, Toste reportedly cold-cocked Lopez Sr. That’s when someone — who police believe was Lopez Jr. — shot Toste twice in the chest.

Lopez Jr. and Whiterock were arrested as suspects within hours after the shooting, but they were later released.

The defendents are show below (click on a photo to see the full sized image):

Joseph Kenneth Lopez Sr.

Joseph Kenneth Lopez Jr.

Nicholas Mejia

Paul Whiterock

Raul Lopez Granados

Mejia said he was shot three times in the back of the right leg, all around the knee.

“I got shot three times in the back of the leg, walking away,” Mejia said.

“I’m a victim, too,” he said. “I didn’t even come with them. I came by myself in my own car. I was going to the club, but everybody goes to the club. It’s a small town.”

Santa Rosa Police homicide Sgt. Paul Henry confirmed Tuesday that Mejia was one of two defendants who were wounded by gunfire and that no one in the Toste party was armed.

The indictment accuses Lopez Jr. of firing the shots that killed Toste.

Henry declined to directly challenge or confirm most of what Mejia said, saying he didn’t want to damage the case as it heads toward trial.

Mejia said he was interviewed in the hospital, where police swabbed his hands in a test for gunshot residue. He also said police examined his car and apparently found nothing incriminating.

“I was never even being charged with this until this grand jury stuff came up,” he said. “I’m seeing all this stuff and they’re making me look guilty. They checked me for gun residue at the hospital, and there was none of that.”

Henry said Mejia’s explanations don’t square with evidence detectives have gathered.

“It sounds like the information he’s providing you is contrary to the information we’re working with,” he said, declining to be more specific. “It will come out at some point, if this case ever goes to trial. Or it will come out as not based in fact, if he pleads guilty.”

The indictment also accuses Lopez Jr., Lopez-Granados and Mejia of attempted murder in a Nov. 16, 2006, shooting. Mejia said he wasn’t involved in, and was never questioned about, that case.

The reason for the delay in the filing of charges will likely become more apparent as details of the case are released during trial. What’s important is that police investigators did not give up, and they deserve praise for vigorously pursuing this case until criminal indictments were secured.

Finding $150-a-bottle Sonoma and Napa red wines at the bargain price of $60 might sound too good to be true.

Apparently, it was.

Felony criminal complaints have been filed against two Santa Rosa men and a Napa resident alleging they embezzled nearly $200,000 worth of high-end Bordeaux-style red blends produced by Jackson Family Wines, part of the Kendall-Jackson empire owned by Sonoma County wine giant Jess Jackson.

According to Sonoma County court documents, Jordan P. Crass, 29, of Santa Rosa, a former customer service representative at Jackson’s Windsor distribution center, was the ringleader who set in motion a potentially very profitable scheme.

He faces six felony charges including grand theft, four counts of burglary and unauthorized computer access.

Depending on how much investigators can establish was stolen, a conviction in the case could mean prison time, prosecutor Amy Ariyoshi said.

In addition to Crass, Jarrett M. Berg, 28, of Santa Rosa and Kevin M. Hall, 29, of Napa are named in the complaint. They face three felony charges each of receiving stolen property.

Hall is an employee of Regal Wine Co., a Jackson-owned distribution company. Berg is a high school friend of Hall’s who is alleged to have delivered the wine to buyers, according to court papers.

None of the men has been arrested. Contacted by phone, Hall declined comment, Crass didn’t return a message seeking comment and Berg couldn’t be reached.

The attention of Jackson wine executives was sparked in April 2007 when the company’s vice president for marketing found Verité wines for sale on the Internet. The wines, three different 2004 vintages of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc blends, hadn’t been released to the public, company officials told investigators.

“He saw this wine and said, ‘Wait a minute, how did they get that?’ He ordered it and said, ‘Yep, that’s our wine,’ ” Sheriff’s Sgt. Glenn Lawrence said. “From there it snowballed.”

Tiffanie De Liberty, an attorney for Jackson Family Enterprises, said in an e-mail the company wouldn’t comment on the case.

An internal investigation by Jackson Family Wines revealed that unreleased 2004 vintages of La Muse, La Joie and Le Désir wines “were available on the Internet in large quantities and at prices substantially below” retail prices, detective Randy Williams wrote in an investigative document filed with the request for search warrants.

The wines were being offered on eBay and four fine wine retailers’ Web sites.

Company investigators traced computer transactions believed to have been made by Crass that indicate he also traded bottles of wine for tickets to sporting events with a Pleasant Hill ticket broker, Williams said.

Crass, who was fired in early April, created false “lost” wine shipments or marked shipments as returns so the wine could be sent out without being tied to an order by a specific customer, a search warrant affidavit alleged.

Williams’ report detailed seven “inventory adjustments” allegedly made in January and February 2007 from Crass’ computer at the company’s shipping center involving nearly 1,000 bottles of 2002 and 2003 Verité and Lokoya wines costing $150 to $175 a bottle. Each of the shipments was labeled lost.

Another inventory check showed 240 missing bottles of 2004 Verité wines, valued at more than $34,000.

Edward Mackauff, president of finewinecollector.com in San Jose, told investigators he bought several bottles of the pricy reds from Hall, whom he said contacted him as a representative of Regal Wine Co. Regal is the distribution arm of Jackson’s wine empire.

Mackauff provided detectives with canceled checks valued at nearly $9,000 written to Berg and Hall for three wine shipments. One of the checks had a bank-required fingerprint of the person who cashed it, Williams said in his report.

“It’s not fun being a victim of anything,” said Mackauff. “I was able to help figure out what was going on and helped catch them. But I’d rather forget it all.”

Out here in Sonoma County there is a very interesting legal battle going on right now over a speeding ticket.  This case is getting national attention and it’s outcome could have a major effect on the future of speeding tickets across the nation.

It all started back on July 4th after 17-year-old Shaun Malone was pulled over on Lakeville Highway in Petaluma after motorcycle officer Steve Johnson used his radar gun to clock Malone’s 2000 Toyota Celica GTS going 62 mph in a 45 mph zone.  Malone was given a $190.00 speeding ticket and sent on his way.

However Malone’s family contends that a GPS system they installed in the teen’s car to track his speed shows him driving 45 mph at virtually the exact same time and place where the officer said he was exceeding the speed limit.

Malone’s stepfather happened to be Roger Rude, a retired lieutenant of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, who served for over 20 years as the area’s law enforcement media spokesperson.  Over this time he was able to build up lots of relationships and influence among both law enforcement and the court systems in the area.  Thus he knew exactly how to fight this speeding ticket and has decided to turn this case into an expensive legal battle involving local officials, lawyers, and satellite technology experts pitting the newer global positioning system technology installed in his son’s car against the time-tested police radar gun. 

This is a rather unusual position for Rude, whose career was spent defending the law.

The citation issued to Malone by Officer Johnson noted that the violation occurred at 7:45 a.m. at Lakeville and South McDowell and that the teen was going 62 mph.  The time and location are approximations. In his notes, Johnson noted a spot 400 feet west of South McDowell — but it’s unclear whether that is where he started tracking the car or where he pulled the trigger on the radar gun. Officers are supposed to visually track a vehicle before noting speed with radar, which is supposed to confirm those observations.

Malone’s GPS tracker, timed to record his location every ten seconds, reported that he was going a maximum of 45 mph at 7:43 a.m.  The latitude and longitude coordinates placed the Celica about 300 feet west of South McDowell, a difference of 100 feet as noted in the officer’s written description of the encounter.

Lt. Rude said it would have been impossible for his stepson to accelerate or slow 17 mph to equal 62 mph over that short distance. In his affidavit, the former lawman offers several possibilities for the discrepancy in the two accounts, including that the radar gun’s calibration may have been off or that another vehicle may have been caught in the radar’s sights.  He also suggests Johnson may have been in a hurry.

Carl Fors, president of Speed Measurement Laboratories Inc., a Fort Worth, Texas-based company that specializes in radar technology, trains police around the country in the use of radar. He said it is subject to both human and technical error. In one notable example, he said an officer he observed using radar clocked a rock going 72 mph. The error was caused by the heater fan blowing air inside the officer’s car. He said the CHP was forced to dismiss a case every few months because the calibrations on the radar gun were off. “I used to have situations where officers in part of the county would pull two or three cars over at once, and it would be difficult for them to sort out who did what to whom,” he said.  Some law enforcement agencies now use laser speed detectors, which are more accurate and can reach longer distances. Fors said some models also can take photos to match the targeted vehicle.

Sgt. Tim Lyons, who oversees the traffic unit, said that Officer Johnson has been handling traffic cases for six years and is trained on how to use radar. “He knows how to work traffic and write speeding tickets. I would trust his judgment,” Lyons said.  Lyons also questioned the GPS’s accuracy. “GPS can be hampered by cloud cover, power lines, tall trees — almost anything that blocks the signal from the satellites. And there’s nothing to say that the person using it hasn’t tampered with the device.”  He also says that there may be more of a delay with GPS than there is with a police officer and his radar gun.

But so long as the sky is clear and the device is working properly, GPS trackers are accurate within 1 mph, said Rick Fry, chief information officer for Rocky Mountain Tracking Inc., a Colorado-based company that supplied Malone’s unit. He said the company’s system is the same the Air Force uses to fly drones. The case has been submitted to Commissioner Carla Bonilla, who will issue a ruling. Malone can appeal that decision.

The case has attracted national attention for potentially setting a precedent for using GPS to contest speeding tickets, which is becoming standard in vehicles as a mapping or tracking device.Legal experts say that this case will most likely be appealed to the State Court System within a few months and has the potential for eventually reaching the Supreme Court.

In the United States, this is the first record of this GPS technology being used to this extent to fight a speeding ticket. If Malone wins this case, it may mean that GPS devices can be used in future cases to contest speeding tickets in court.  The ruling in the case could have a major effect on the future of traffic control across the nation.

Click here to see an AP News Video on this case.

I also wonder what type of effect this could have on the Automobile Insurance industry.  One day Auto Insurance companies could install GPS systems in cars and be able to track your driving habits.  They will we able to judge who the good drivers and bad drivers are based on a variety of different criteria.  Thus your true driving habits could influence your auto insurance rates.

Two younger brothers of Sonoma County’s first Iraq war casualty are among five suspects arrested since a weekend brawl that left one man dead and three others wounded.

Matthew Timothy O’Day (above right), 19, of Santa Rosa was in jail Monday on suspicion of murder, and Rory Joseph O’Day (above left), 18, of Santa Rosa was being held as a suspected accessory to murder.

The O’Days’ eldest brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick T. O’Day (pictured above), died in Iraq when his tank plunged off a bridge into the Euphrates River on March 24, 2003, five days into the U.S. invasion of Iraq.  He was the first Sonoma County casualty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

A fifth man, Donald Bittner (above right), 19, of Santa Rosa was arrested Monday and held on suspicion of murder.

Police found Benjamin Herbert Floriani dead on the living room floor when they arrived at the Blair Place town house. Three other men were wounded.

Efran Vasquez, 22, and Aniano Vasquez, 21, were hospitalized, Banayat said. Martin Ponzo, 20, was treated for his injuries and released.

It was the fourth homicide of the year in Santa Rosa, compared to six for all of 2006.

Below are the mug shots of some of the suspects arrested in the stabbing incident.

Matthew O’Day is pictured above left and Rory O’Day is pictured above right.  Click on either image to view the full sized picture.

Alex Hopper is pictured to the left and Noah Minuskin is pictured to the right.  Click on either image to view the full sized picture.

Above is a photo of Donald Bittner.  Click on the image to view the full sized picture.

A 21 year old San Francisco State University student was stabbed to death and two others suffered life-threatening injuries at a party in Santa Rosa that erupted in violence early Saturday.

Benjamin Herbert Floriani, was found dead on the living-room floor of the Blair Place apartment at around 1:09 a.m. Saturday morning. Two others at the party were hospitalized with severe injuries during what witnesses described as a boisterous party at the complex near West Ninth Street.  The fight took place at 722 Blair Place.

Two Santa Rosa men were arrested in connection with the stabbing. Alex Paul Hopper (above left), 20, was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of murder, and Noah H. Minuskin (above right), 19, is being held as an accessory.

Floriani, who police believe was a guest at the party, was killed after a fight broke out.

Two people were transported by ambulance to hospitals shortly after police arrived.

Banayat said the injuries were life-threatening and that the identities of the victims were being withheld because the case is still under investigation.

One other person was treated for injuries and released.

Blood had dried on the walkway to the front door Saturday afternoon, indicating the possible extent of injuries, said neighbor Carlos Ojeda.

“There’s too much blood,” Ojeda said as crime scene investigators took pictures and collected evidence behind police tape.

“It’s all over the steps, the walls and the door,” Ojeda said.

Investigators were questioning neighbors and witnesses.

Neighbors said two women and several children lived in the tan, single-story apartment, where as many as 50 people gathered late Friday night.

A neighbor who would not give his name said he returned from a trip to Petaluma around 11:30 p.m. and heard yelling coming from the apartment.

He went to sleep, only to be awakened a few hours later by police going door to door with the news of the slaying.

“I heard loud arguing inside the fence,” the neighbor said.

Others said they were shocked to hear that someone was killed in the normally quiet neighborhood.

“I am very upset,” said April Shipman, who lives across the street. “I couldn’t even sleep last night.”

On Sunday, May 27th, 2007, Casey Tyler Adams, 26, was camping at a local beach resort (Lawson’s Landing) with some friends.

At around 1 am, Casey Adams and several of the people he was camping with walked down to the privately owned beach (Dillon Beach in Marin Co, CA). While there they were approached by three other young men who started an argument with them. This argument was very brief and began when one of the men in the second group shined a flashlight into Casey’s eyes. He told them to stop, the group left and then re approached Casey a short while later and he was punched in the face several times and hit on the head with the flashlight from behind. The injuries he suffered from the blows caused an artery at the base of his brain to tear, killing him almost instantly. The Marin County DA has informed the public that if he had not died so quickly the defendants would be looking at second degree murder.

Robert Marcus, 20, of Elk Grove, Robert Martell (a marine reservist), 24, of Antioch, and Daren Bell, 24, of Sacramento, were arrested and confessed to having hit Casey under audio and videotape, all stating they were not hit back by Casey. Originally, Robert Martell and Robert Marcus were charged with involuntary manslaughter and battery with serious bodily injury. Darren Bell was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. At the preliminary hearing the judge said that he was “appalled” at the behavior of these men, and that they basically surrounded and attacked Casey with little provocation other then words Casey may have said. He also said that he saw no grounds for either self defense or justifiable homicide and that not only would he not dismiss or reduce any of the charges, but that the Marin County District Attorney could add involuntary manslaughter and battery with serious bodily injury to Bell’s charges.

Subsequent to this preliminary hearing, the Marin County DA’s office offered to drop all other charges if the defendants would plead guilty to assault with force likely, a felony non-strike-able offense according to CA three strikes law. It seems likely that these three guys will probably get off with nothing more than probation for the murder of Casey, downgrading the charge to a misdemeanor that may have the potential to later be expunged from their records.

I feel that this is absolutely ridiculous!  They should be charged with involuntary manslaughter at the very least.  This guy was attacked with deadly force by three individuals.  He was hit in the head repeatedly with a maglight which is a deadly weapon.  If they get this reduced to a misdemeanor and only receive probation that could be expunged from their records than they were able to get away with murder.

If the Sonoma County Court can charge James Eichman, Jerry Eichman, and Douglas James Thompson with involuntary manslaughter for leaving a broked down car on the side of the road that posed an “unideal condition” that was apparently the spark that caused the “gasoline soaked”, Matthew Spencer (who was intoxicated and going over twice the posted speed limit) to lose control of his Jeep and kill himself and his family than they most certainly can charge these three individuals with involuntary manslaughter for jumping an innocent man and beating him to death with a flashlight and their fists.

This is so ridiculous!  How can we feel safe in the world when a judge or DA’s office makes such a ridiculous call. 

Too bad that Casey Adams wasn’t killed in Sonoma County.  I feel that Stephan Passalacqua’s office (Sonoma County DA) would do a much better job of holding these three guys responsible for what they did than Edward S. Berberian, Jr., the Marin County DA.  His motto is Keep Marin Safe thru Protection, Prosecution, & Prevention.  He is clearly not doing a good of upholding safety, protection, or prosecution.

Some people believe that he is letting them off easy because one of the perps, Robert Martell, is a marine reservist.  This could be the case.  In a separate incident in Sonoma County, James Eichman, Jerry Eichman, and Douglas James Thompson were held responsible for the death of Matthew Spencer and his family and faced really severe charges largely due to the fact that his wife, Lauren Martinez’s, family was rich and influencial in the area.
 
Two separate ex-DA investigators who have confirmed that the most appropriate charge should be voluntary manslaughter, and for some reason minor assault charges are what is offered.

How safe can we feel in the world if people who attack and kill others are encouraged and offered to plea bargins and receive completely inadequate charge? Shouldn’t we expect that people in a public place should be safe from the threat of attack? Is this not a Constitutional right? And if we are attacked isn’t it reasonable to assume that the District Attorneys office will prosecute the case appropriately?

We would like to see the DA drop this offer, and that the perpetrators be charged with the voluntary manslaughter they deserve. We are hoping that the defendants are made to serve some prison time, if for no other reason than that they will be forced to take some time to consider the magnitude of the consequences of their choices.

LET JUSTICE PREVAIL, PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION BELOW:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/dont-let-the-guys-who-killed-casey-plea-to-assault

Thanks!

On January 5, 2005,  Matthew Spencer, 27, was out eating dinner with his wife, Lauren Martinez, 25, and their children, Kailee, 7, and Cameron, 5.  Matthew Spencer had a couple of drinks with dinner putting his blood-alcohol level at 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit for driving.

Despite being intoxicated, he decided to drive his family home in his Jeep Cherokee.  At this instant, by making the decision to drive impaired (intoxicated) he not only put his own life in danger, but he also put his wife and his children’s life in danger. Their lives were clearly put into danger as soon as Matthew got behind the wheel of the car, this alone would constitute a crime that would have lead to him being arrested for a DUI.

The family headed down Guerneville Road which has a posted speed limit of 45 mph and it is windy in places out towards Sebastopol, so its even advisable to drive slower at night or under certain conditions.  However, Matthew decided to drive 80-100 mph that night, again putting himself and his family at danger because he was going over twice the posted speed limit.  This alone would constitute a crime that would have lead to him being arrested for wreckless driving.

Driving with a 0.18 percent BAC (more than twice the legal limit) alone is a recipe for disaster, however doing this combined with driving more than twice the posted speed limit is twice as dangerous. 

If you must drive intoxicated, its smart to drive slowly and carefully.  Your judgement, reaction time, and perception are all impaired so it makes sense to be careful.

If you must drive twice the speed limit than you want to do so when you are completely sober and under ideal road conditions in a place where the road is long, flat, and wide and you can see far ahead of you to anticipate any potential dangers that may arise far ahead of time. 

Matthew Spencer decided to drive over twice the speed limit with his BAC at over twice the legal limit, putting himself and his family in extreme danger.

Matthew was speeding down Guernville Road at 80-100 mph and reached a turn in the road.  Around the corner was a broken down Ford Thunderbird and a row of four cars stopped near a broken down car. 

Matthew was driving too fast and his perception and reaction time were greatly impaired by the alcohol.  He tried to swerve past the four stopped cars and the broken down car, overturned several times and landed in a ditch.  He and his family died almost instantly. 

Had Matthew been driving slower or not under the influence of alcohol he would have a been able to stop in a decent fashion and would have avoided the accident all together.  However he was driving way too fast to stop around the corner and his judgement was way too impaired to react in appropriate manner.

Many other drivers who were sober and not driving as fast as Matthew Spencer were able to avoid the emergency scene surrounding the Thunderbird.  The only difference between those people and Matthew was that Matthew going 100 mph and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.18.  Driving that fast while sober would be dangerous, but when you add the alcohol, it makes it extremely more dangerous.

Three men were arrested for leaving the broken down Ford Thunderbird on the side of the road after the rope tow that they were using to tow the car broke.  James Eichman (James Albert Eichman), 55, and Jerry Eichman (Jerry Andrew Eichman), 48, were both arrested for involuntary manslaughter and could face 16 years in prison, and Douglas James Thompson, 49, was charged with wreckless endangerment (in exchange for his testimony) and could face 3 years in prison.  Prosecutor Anne Masterson and the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office argued that the Eichmans are criminally liable for the deaths because they created a dangerous situation.

Steve Carroll, a witness at the manslaughter trial, who was driving to Graton at the time, testified Tuesday that he saw a speeding Jeep swerve past four stopped cars, overturn several times and land in a ditch.

“The car approached at a horrendous speed,” he said. “I thought to myself, `This car isn’t not going to stop in time.”’ But before he could even complete that thought, he said, the Jeep clipped the waiting white truck and careened out of control.

“The Jeep swerved to avoid hitting all the rest of us, then immediately came back and flipped over,” he said. “It rolled over I think about 10 times, about 250 feet down the road. It just rolled and rolled and rolled, and finally it stopped.”

Carroll estimated the Jeep was traveling 80 to 85 mph, “if not faster.”

Did it appear to slow down as it approached the lit-up scene, asked Nate Raff, one of James Eichman’s attorneys.

“Not in the least,” Carroll testified. 

WRONGFUL ARRESTS 

I don’t feel that the Eichman brothers or Douglas James Thompson should be charged with creating a dangerous situation that led to this family’s death.  Matthew Spencer was the one responsible for their deaths because he chose to drive intoxicated and twice the posted speed limit, by doing this it was only a matter of chance that he would face a potential dangerous situation where he would be too impaired or going to fast to react in an appropriate manner.

Cars break down all the time and stop in the middle of the road, if you are driving behind them it’s YOUR responsibility to stop in a reasonable amount of time.  If you hit them from behind, it’s YOUR fault because you were either driving too fast or following too close.  The same principal applies here. 

People encounter unforseeable dangers on the road everyday: a child could have walked in the road, a car could have been backing out of a driveway, a bicyclist could have been in the road around that corner and Matthew Spencer may have still killed his family. He is responsible for their death, not the Thunderbird in the road despite what their family may think. 

I feel sorry for the children because they were the only real victims here.  Kailee and Cameron did nothing wrong.  Matthew Spencer is responsible for their deaths because he drove intoxicated and at twice the posted limit and his wife, Lauren Martinez, holds some degree of responsibility for allowing him to drive in this manner.  Neither Matthew or Lauren are victims, they could have prevented this. 

Lauren Martinez was from a wealthy family who are really pressing to have the Eichman brothers held responsible for their deaths.  They seem really eager to place blame and are totally in denial that her husband, Matthew, could be anyway responsible.

People argue that they were such great people, parents, and a wonderful family.  People die everyday due to poor judgement and bad decisions and these types of accidents don’t discriminate between good and bad people.  It only takes a split second to make a mistake that costs you your life.  They made that mistake.

You can try and blame the Eichman brothers, the road, the city, or anyone else, but when it comes down to it, Matthew Spencer holds ultimate responsibility for having such poor judgement and driving wrecklessly and intoxicated.