Dionisio Molina Pleads No Contest in Vehicular Manslaughter Case

Bay City News — An Alameda man faces 11 years in state prison after he entered a plea of no contest today to a charge of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for killing a 78-year-old man with his sport utility vehicle on a sidewalk in Alameda two years ago.

Dionisio Molina, 38, entered his plea for the July 5, 2008, death of George Marceline two days after jurors acquitted him of first-degree murder and deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquitting him of second-degree murder after about a week of deliberations.

Earlier in their deliberations, jurors convicted Molina of two counts of battery for attacking two Alameda police detectives during an interrogation four days after he killed Marceline. But jurors found him not guilty of attempted murder for almost hitting a woman shortly after he struck and killed Marceline. The plea agreement was reached in the chambers of Alameda County Superior Court Judge Carrie Panetta on Wednesday afternoon after Molina consulted with his mother.

His lawyer, David Billingsley, said today that the plea "represents a compromise on the parts of both the defense and the people" and "is fair and appropriate." Prosecutor Annie Saadi sought to have Molina convicted of murder and Billinglsey sought to have him convicted of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Billingsley said, "Mr. Molina accepts responsibility for the fact that his actions led to the death of Mr. Marceline and is prepared to accept the consequences for what happened."

Billingsley admitted in his closing argument in Molina's trial two weeks ago that Molina ran over Marceline with his Jeep Grand Cherokee in the 2000 block of Shoreline Drive, which runs along the San Francisco Bay, at about 5:30 a.m. on July 5, 2008, and almost hit a woman shortly after. But the defense lawyer said Molina should only be convicted of involuntary manslaughter for Marceline's death and should be acquitted of the attempted murder charge.

Billingsley argued that his client was not conscious at the time of the accident and wasn't in control of his actions. He said Molina "was operating in a state of altered consciousness" because he had suffered from some kind of brain trauma caused by his wife about 10 days earlier when she hit him twice on the head with a wooden box during a fight. Billingsley said those blows —plus previous use of a sleep-aid drug and stress from losing his job and financial problems — put Molina in a state where he didn't have control of his actions.

But Saadi told jurors that Molina should be convicted of murder, alleging that he set out to hurt people because he was mad at the world on the morning of July 5, 2008, due to marital problems and other issues. She told jurors that Molina "obviously had problems in his life, and you might feel sorry for him." But "we all have problems," she said, and instead of getting help by going to a therapist or talking to friends, Molina "took his rage out on completely innocent strangers."

Saadi said today that she still thinks Molina should have been convicted of murder, saying, "I don't believe he was unconscious or intoxicated" and he knew what he was doing when he killed Marceline and almost struck the woman.

Marceline's great nephew, 27-year-old Joseph Yackle of Alameda, said he thinks "it's ridiculous" that Molina wasn't convicted of murder. Yackle said Molina "had bumper guards on his Grand Cherokee and was ready for destruction."

Marceline's nephew, 80-year-old Earl Lopez of Castro Valley, said Marceline was a retired warehouse worker and described him as "one of the best people who ever walked  the planet."

Molina is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Panetta on Nov. 19.