Retrial Nears for Driver In Lafayette Crash Case

Four years after he allegedly slammed his BMW into a line of cars waiting for a light to change at a Lafayette intersection, a Tracy businessman described by his attorney as "legally unconscious" in the moments before the fatal crash returns to court to stand trial for the second time.

The first trial of David Caspillo, 41, ended in a hung jury — with 10 of 12 jurors concluding that he was guilty of felony vehicular manslaughter after he sped past Acalanes High School and into the line of cars waiting at Pleasant Hill Road in March 2007. Two jurors found Caspillo not guilty of the resulting high-speed crash that killed Walnut Creek resident Dale Zenor and injured five.

His attorney said that Caspillo suffered from a lapse of consciousness that rendered him legally unaware of what he was doing and that he could therefore not be held accountable for the crash.

"His ability to drive at that speed and stay in the lane" is what convinced 10 of the 12 jurors that he was guilty, said Kelly Irvine of Moraga, the jury's foreperson. They didn't buy into the argument that he could have been "legally unconscious" in the moments before the fatal collision, she said.

"We really spent all day seeing if we could pull anything out that would make anybody feel differently," she said, expressing regret for all involved that the trial will have to begin anew. "Basically, it was just a matter of opinion."

Caspillo is expected to return to court the first week of April.