Deborah King Stays Locked Up

Where she belongs for life.

Deborah King In Court
KSBW Photo

A woman convicted of striking and killing a Pacific Grove man as he picked up his son from school has failed in her bid for a new trial.

Kitagawa testified the tests were positive for hydrocodone, morphine, Xanax, Ambien, trazadone and an anti-depressant. In violation of pre-trial court orders, he also testified he found traces of marijuana, though the test showed only an inactive metabolite of the drug.

After an objection by defense attorney Heather Rogers, Judge Russell Scott informed the jury there was no active THC in King’s blood and to disregard the testimony. But he declined Rogers’ motion for a new trial, ruling the marijuana testimony would not affect the outcome of the trial.

After an objection by defense attorney Heather Rogers, Judge Russell Scott informed the jury there was no active THC in King’s blood and to disregard the testimony. But he declined Rogers’ motion for a new trial, ruling the marijuana testimony would not affect the outcome of the trial.

Deborah King Stays Locked Up

King Defense – Taking Prescribed Medications Is Not “Intoxicating”

Grisly picture of Deborah King’s BMW in the Pine Cone.

Despite her public defender’s efforts to get her declared incompetent and institutionalized instead of being sent to prison, Deborah King — found guilty by a jury in February of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the 2008 death of Pacific Grove resident Joel Woods — received a prison sentence of 15 years to life from Monterey County Superior Court Judge Russell Scott last week.

King Defense – Taking Prescribed Medications Is Not “Intoxicating”

Deborah King Gets 15 Years To Life

hey, hey, goodbye!

Deborah King, 54, was convicted in February of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the death of Joel Woods on Sept. 2, 2008. King’s mandated sentence was enhanced because of five prior convictions for driving under the influence. She will not be eligible for parole until 2023.

Woods’ father, Ken, also asked the court to impose the toughest possible sentence, and recounted what he said he believed were King’s repeated attempts to dodge taking responsibility for his son’s death, including attempts to fake mental incompetence.

Deborah King Gets 15 Years To Life

More Hearings For Deborah King

Give it up and take what you get.

For the fifth time since she drove into a Pacific Grove father killing him in front of his son, a judge has appointed a psychiatrist to evaluate the mental competency of Deborah King.

Defense attorney Heather Rogers told Judge Russell Scott this morning she can’t move forward with a motion for a new trial because she doubts her client’s ability to assist in her own defense.

A jury convicted King in February of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the death of 35-year-old Joel Woods, who was struck and killed outside Pacific Grove Middle School on Sept. 2, 2008. Because she has five prior drunken-driving convictions, one resulting in a prison term, the former correctional officer faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

More Hearings For Deborah King (Contra Costa Times)

Deborah King Found Guilty Of Manslaughter

Acquitted of 2nd degree murder though. Hope she gets life.

Deborah KingKSBW Photo

A jury has found Deborah King, age 54, of Monterey, guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Judge Russell Scott subsequently found that King has suffered numerous prior driving under the influence convictions which would require her sentence to be 15 years to life in prison.

Deborah King Found Guilty Of Manslaughter

Middle School Drop Off Point Unsafe?

It’s safe as long as there are no impaired drivers careening down the street.

J Ciccarelli’s report, delivered in November 2008, recommended the city consider moving the loading zone to Sinex or Fountain Avenue and prohibit parking or stopping on Forest outside of the school.

Pacific Grove Unified School District Assistant Superintendent Robin Blakely said Ciccarelli’s study looked only at pedestrian safety and sidewalks and was “quickly discredited” because it recommended moving the loading zone to Fountain Avenue, which is closed during school hours. Additionally, he said, there are already alternative drop-off and pick-up zones.

He said Forest Avenue in front of the school is “no more narrow” than other streets around the school and elsewhere in the city. If a city street is safe then drop-off should be safe, he said.

Middle School Drop Off Point Unsafe?

Joel Woods’ Son Testifies At Deborah King Trial

Tremendous strength, I’d say.

PGMS J Woods Flowers

Jake Woods gestured toward a self-drawn diagram of the accident scene to illustrate where his father was standing when he was hit, and where he landed after the collision. The diagram included sketches of both vehicles, his father and himself.

“I saw Dad look both ways as he went around the back of the truck to get in,” he said. “He was outside the driver-side door, with the door closed, and I heard a loud thump when the lady hit him. After he got hit, I didn’t really pay attention to the lady. He was in the gutter, bleeding all over the place. People were screaming and I didn’t know what to do.”

Jake described watching a school employee tend to his stricken father, and seeing teachers usher students toward the school cafeteria.

He said he went by himself to the school office, where he talked with teachers. He said he watched from the office as a tow truck pulled the car that had struck his father from the scene. He said he saw a broken windshield on the passenger side of the vehicle.

Son & Ex Husband Testify In King Trial

Son called 911 thrice when Deborah King had blackouts.

Both men said they warned King dozens of times that she would kill someone if she didn’t stop driving while drunk and medicated on prescription narcotics.

King, 54, is charged with second-degree murder and driving under the influence of prescription drugs in the death of Joel Woods, 35, who was struck and killed as he was getting in his truck after picking up his son at Pacific Grove Middle School on Sept. 2, 2008.

According to testimony, King has five prior drunken-driving convictions in Kern County, one of which led to a prison term.

Son & Ex Husband Testify In King Trial

Doctor Fail – Should Have Taken Deborah King Off The Streets

Trust you hunches in the future, Doc.

Two weeks before she struck and killed a Pacific Grove father, Deborah King’s physician considered hospitalizing her for acute fatigue.

Prunedale osteopath Dr. Adelheid Ebenboech said she was so concerned about her patient’s condition during an emergency visit Aug. 15, 2008, that she warned her to limit her driving, but continue to see her therapist, while tests were run to see what was causing the fatigue.

Doctor Fail – Should Have Taken Deborah King Off The Streets

Trial Begins For Deborah King

Think guilty.

In his opening statement, prosecutor Steve Somers told the jury that King, 54, has been warned on multiple occasions about the dangers of driving while impaired. The courts told her; the Department of Motor Vehicles and her ex-husband did, too.

But on Sept. 2, 2008, with a cocktail of prescription drugs in her system, Somers said, King chose to get behind the wheel of her BMW X3 and drive from Monterey to a noon appointment with her therapist in Pacific Grove.

After nearly rear-ending another driver at the stoplight on the off-ramp from Highway 1 to Highway 68, King weaved her way down to Forest Avenue and her tragic collision with Woods.

Trial Begins For Deborah King