DA fought 2014 dismissal of DUI charges against suspect in Modesto sergeant’s death

Matthew David Gibbs, the Modesto resident facing homicide charges in a DUI-related crash that killed police Sgt. Mike Pershall on Tuesday evening, had a drunk-driving case dismissed in September 2014, over the objections of the District Attorney’s Office.

In April 2012, after an arrest by the California Highway Patrol, Gibbs was charged in Stanislaus County with misdemeanor DUI and driving with a blood-alcohol content over 0.08 percent. Gibbs’ BAC actually was three times the legal limit, said John Goold, spokesman for the DA’s Office.

The accused failed to appear at his arraignment, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, Goold said. However, he never was arrested on the warrant.

In April 2014, Gibbs, through his attorney Ryan Roth, filed a motion to have the case dismissed on grounds that it violated his right to a speedy trial. Roth said his client maintained the same Modesto address after the arrest and had that address on record with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

In the motion, Roth said Gibbs discovered in late 2013 that he still had an outstanding warrant related to the arrest. He argued that the time between the filing of the complaint against Gibbs and the filing of the motion on the calendar exceeded 18 months. Gibbs “has never attempted to hide from the jurisdiction of the court,” his attorney wrote. He also said Gibbs’ “Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial has been violated without any justification by the People.”

He wrote that the delay caused prejudice against his client. “It is fair to say that over the span of nearly two years, memories fade, witnesses are unable to be located and testimony is unable to be supported or controverted by any independent evidence.”

The district attorney filed a formal opposition to that motion, Goold said. The DA’s Office argued that “while the ‘presumptive prejudice’ period is generally around one year, this is not a hard set rule” and that an exception “should be in cases where the defendant is given the opportunity to address his criminal action but fails to do so by not appearing.”

The motion also argued that Gibbs himself was the reason for the delay, by failing to appear in court at the initial arraignment, which was just six days after the complaint against him was filed. “The People should not be held accountable for delay in prosecution caused by the defendant’s unilateral actions causing the delay.”

The motion later asserts: “Defendant cannot play hide-in-seek (sic) and then appear several months after the presumptive period to then claim his speedy trial rights were violated.”

Five months after the motion was filed and six court hearings later, Judge Marie S. Silveira eventually decided in Gibbs’ favor and dismissed the case on Sept. 19, 2014, over the district attorney’s objection, Goold said.

This story was originally published August 23, 2017 at 3:58 PM with the headline "DA fought 2014 dismissal of DUI charges against suspect in Modesto sergeant’s death."