San Francisco – A Court of Appeal rejected the attempts of a man from South San Francisco to overthrow his condemnation with double murder in a bad way.
Michael Veretre, 34, is in the state prison of North Kern, risking 45 years in life for the death of the married couple Tyra Ann Chappell, 52, American Canyon, and Frederic Chappell, 76, from Vallejo.
The defense refused to challenge the call at the end of last year and the case was returned to the Superior Court, according to the files.
The two victims were in a Toyota 2000 van to the east on the interstate 80 when a 2005 chevy trailblazer going to the west on the exit of the Appian Way struck California Highway Patrol. According to the authorities, Veretre was heading east on the i-80 when he exceeded a California road patrol car, then reversed his course and returned to the I-80 to the west, out of Appian Way. He would have said to a passenger that he did not return to prison.
The accusation files declared that Veretre had accumulated 11 previous convictions for having led with a permit suspended or revoked, all in 2013 and 2014. He had three previous convictions involving the attempt to move away from the police, two of whom involved driving in the wrong direction on a road, prosecutors said.
At the time of Verret’s condemnation, his lawyer said that the accusation had “surfed” to truth. The appeal decision rejects its arguments according to which the jurors should have been informed of involuntary offenses for manslaughter.
Deputy Prosecutor Derek Butts, who continued the case, said that he “certainly met the second -degree murder criteria”, despite the defense argument at the trial that the incident was an “accident”.
“The jury of 12 agreed unanimously and now three judges of the Court of Appeal have confirmed the convictions,” said Butts. “In Contra Costa County, a very dangerous conduct, such as police escape, can submit the offender to murder prosecution if death occurs following this conduct.”
Véret will be eligible for parole in 2049, according to the files.
California Daily Newspapers
