Jury convicts Turlock man in deadly DUI crash on Lander Avenue
A Turlock man is facing up to 30 years in prison for a deadly drunk driving crash that sheared the victim’s pickup in half.
Daniel Allen Coats, 41, was convicted by a jury last month of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and enhancements for fleeing the scene of a vehicular manslaughter, according to a press release from the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.
The collision occurred in December 2018 when the victim, 55-year-old Jose Manuel Mora of Hilmar, made a U-turn from southbound Lander Avenue, just south of the intersection with West F Street in Turlock.
Coats was driving a Ford Mustang north on Lander at 80 mph in a 40 mph zone and collided with the side of the Nissan pickup Mora was driving.
“Video surveillance from a nearby business showed Coats’ vehicle hit Mora’s pickup midway through the U-turn, ripping it in half and separating the truck’s cab from the bed by nearly 100 feet,” according to the press release.
Mora suffered significant internal injuries from the crash and was pronounced dead from his injuries after being transported to Emanuel Medical Center, according to the press release.
Deputy Public Defender Komnith Moth, who represented Coats, said there were medical factors that existed before the crash that contributed to Mora’s death.
The pathologist testified that the cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia (heart attack/irregular heartbeat) brought up by the stress of the accident, Moth said in an email to The Bee.
“Our expert (a forensic toxicologist) testified that it was highly probable that the methamphetamine in the decedent’s system caused him to have a heart attack,” he said.
Coats’ vehicle sustained major front-end damage but he was able to walk away from the scene after looking at the condition of Mora’s body, according to the DA press release.
Witnesses testified they heard Coats on his phone telling someone to “Get me out of here.” He was picked up by family members but was followed and quickly arrested by Turlock police officers four blocks away as he attempted to flee the scene.
Police officers testified that Coats showed obvious signs of alcohol intoxication, according to the release, but he refused to provide a blood sample and officers had to get a search warrant for a forced blood draw.
Coats had a blood alcohol content of 0.14% at the time of his blood draw, which was five hours after the crash. The legal limit is .08%.
Moth argued Coats should be acquitted of gross vehicular manslaughter due to the evidence presented by their expert and circumstantial evidence that Mora was suffering from the initial symptoms of the heart attack immediately prior to the crash because he made a sudden illegal U-turn toward the direction of the hospital.
But at the conclusion of the weeklong trial, the jury convicted Coats on all counts.
In a separate court trial, Judge Carrie Stephens found Coats had a prior strike under California’s Three Strikes Law for first-degree residential burglary.
“Coats, who has a significant criminal history with more than ten prior felony convictions from multiple California jurisdictions, returns to court on Aug. 30 for sentencing where he faces up to 30 years in state prison,” says the DA’s press release.
Moth said he will appeal the verdict.
This story was originally published July 12, 2023 at 11:41 AM.
