Torrey Pines crash killer stays behind bars
Appeals Court Slams the Door on Torrey Pines DUI Killer
A California appeals court just made clear that 32 years to life is exactly where Christopher Schmittel belongs.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld the murder convictions last week for Schmittel, now 23, who in April 2022 drove his 2020 Subaru WRX at more than 120 mph while drunk and high, crashed through a metal guardrail on North Torrey Pines Road, and sent the car plunging roughly 20 to 25 feet onto Torrey Pines State Beach below. Joshua Manzanares and Johnny Punzalan — both 19 — were thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene. Two other passengers were hospitalized with serious injuries.
The three-justice panel wasn't buying the defense's arguments that the murder convictions were too harsh. Schmittel had worked at drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers and, adding a grim layer of irony, had actually warned a friend against drinking and driving just two weeks before the crash. He also testified at trial that he knew his driving was dangerous — speeding and weaving into oncoming traffic for hours on the drive from the Riverside area to San Diego.
His attorneys pushed to have the two consecutive 15-to-life murder sentences run concurrently instead. The court shut that down too, finding that Superior Court Judge Lisa Rodriguez's reasoning — two separate victims, two separate sentences — was neither arbitrary nor irrational.
The full sentence: 32 years to life in state prison. No shortcuts, no do-overs.
Sources: 10News | San Diego Union-Tribune | Times of San Diego | The Coast News | CBS 8