Laguna doctor sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanors in deadly 2013 crash

A Laguna Beach physician was sentenced to community service and three years’ probation after pleading guilty Monday to misdemeanor counts of vehicular manslaughter in a deadly auto collision more than four years ago on Laguna Canyon Road.

Defense attorney Paul Meyer said he and his client, Dr. Robert McFarland Pettis, had agreed on a plea deal with the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Pettis pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence related to the April 2, 2013, crash, according to Orange County Superior Court records.

Alberto Casique, 47, of Anaheim and passenger Armando Gonzalez, 38, of Santa Ana were riding south in a Honda Accord at 6:40 a.m. that day when Pettis, driving a Tesla Model S, crossed a double yellow line and hit them head-on, authorities said. Casique and Gonzalez were pronounced dead at the scene.

Pettis previously had pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, but Meyer said those charges were dropped.

“We offered what we did to the defendant after carefully reviewing all of the evidence and evaluating the likelihood of success at trial in the felony vs. the misdemeanor,” Senior Deputy District Atty. Whitney Bokosky wrote in an email Monday. “We also considered the desires of the victims’ family members.”

Judge Gregg Prickett sentenced Pettis to three years’ probation, restitution and 240 hours of community service, according to Superior Court records.

“Dr. Pettis admitted his excessive speed and his great sorrow from the very beginning,” Meyer said in a statement, adding that Pettis prayed for the families every day. “There are several other significant causes of this accident by another driver and roadway conditions, all set forth in civil suits by the families.”

Attorney Otto Haselhoff filed a lawsuit in 2014 on behalf of Casique’s family that names Pettis, Dekker Nolan McKeever and multiple cities and public agencies as defendants.

A trial is scheduled for April, Haselhoff said.

The suit alleges that Pettis and McKeever, who was driving a Mercedes-Benz, may have been speeding alongside each other before the wreck some 200 feet north of the El Toro Road-Laguna Canyon Road intersection.

Haselhoff claims government entities are partly responsible for the collision, based on Laguna Canyon Road’s condition and signage, including untrimmed foliage blocking a lane-merger sign and speed limits that are too high, according to court records.

Haselhoff said Monday that he had no comment about Pettis’ plea agreement.

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Twitter: @AldertonBryce