Acosta case prosecutors, defense spar over whether evidence supports murder charge
Prosecutors and defense attorneys offered sharply different interpretations of evidence Wednesday in the preliminary hearing of Juliette Acosta, the Oakdale mother charged with murder in the death of her young daughter after a crash into an irrigation canal last year.
After three days of testimony in Stanislaus County Superior Court, Judge Valli Israels continued the hearing until May 29, when attorneys are expected to deliver final arguments over whether Acosta should be held to answer on charges including murder, vehicular manslaughter, DUI causing injury and child endangerment.
Acosta, 27, is accused of driving intoxicated March 8, 2025, with her 4-year-old daughter, Reagan Herrin, inside the vehicle when it crashed into an irrigation canal near Hickman. Prosecutors say Acosta left the scene after the crash while Reagan remained trapped inside the submerged vehicle. The child later died.
Acosta has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.
The preliminary hearing has centered largely on whether prosecutors have shown enough evidence of “implied malice” — a legal standard required to support a charge of second-degree murder in a DUI case.
Deputy District Attorney Vita Palazuelos presented evidence Wednesday aiming to show that Acosta knew the dangers of drinking and driving before the March crash.
Defense attorney Gil Somera countered that prosecutors failed to prove Acosta acted with conscious disregard for human life.
“We don’t have a prior DUI,” Somera told The Bee outside the courthouse Wednesday. “We don’t have prior court-mandated classes. We don’t have any of those things.”
Somera said implied malice depends on a defendant’s mental state at the time of the act. “That wasn’t proved in this case,” he said.
DOJ criminalist testifies about blood alcohol levels
A key witness Wednesday was Abby O’Rourke, a senior criminalist with the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services.
O’Rourke testified that Acosta’s blood sample, drawn roughly three hours after the crash at 2:15 a.m., measured a blood alcohol concentration of 0.169%. Using retrograde extrapolation — a method estimating earlier intoxication levels — O’Rourke testified that Acosta’s BAC could have been about 0.229% around 11 p.m., near the time prosecutors allege the crash occurred. In California, it is illegal to drive with a BAC of 0.08% or higher.
Under cross-examination, Somera challenged the assumptions used in that calculation, including uncertainties about when Acosta last ate, drank alcohol and whether trauma or cold-water immersion affected the results.
O’Rourke acknowledged that retrograde extrapolation involves assumptions and said factors such as food consumption and absorption rates can vary between individuals.
Somera also questioned whether head trauma, shock and hypothermia symptoms could mimic signs of intoxication.
The criminalist testified that head trauma can share symptoms with alcohol impairment, including slurred speech, confusion and delayed responses.
CHP detective details text messages, iCloud search
CHP Detective Richard Bryson also testified Wednesday about investigators obtaining data from Acosta’s iCloud account and reviewing thousands of messages and photographs.
Bryson said investigators searched messages using terms related to alcohol, crashes and DUI incidents.
Palazuelos introduced several text exchanges that she said demonstrated that Acosta understood the dangers of impaired driving before the crash.
One message discussed another person allegedly receiving a DUI and possible child endangerment charges, according to testimony.
Another exchange included a conversation in which Acosta responded to a question about functioning while intoxicated by saying she “wouldn’t be able to.”
Bryson also testified about a February 2025 exchange that prosecutors said referenced finding a designated driver.
Somera objected repeatedly to the relevance of the messages, arguing they amounted to character evidence and did not prove Acosta’s mental state the night of the crash.
Israels allowed several of the exchanges for purposes related to state of mind.
Defense argues investigation was incomplete
Somera repeatedly argued that investigators failed to conduct what he described as a full “24-hour analysis” of Acosta’s activities before the crash, including what she ate, drank and when she stopped consuming alcohol.
Outside of court, Somera criticized the investigation and said first responders failed to fully account for Acosta’s physical condition after she was found wet, cold and suffering from hypothermia symptoms.
“You saw that she wasn’t being treated by medical staff,” Somera said. “Nobody provided her with any medical attention.”
Somera also argued prosecutors are attempting to elevate a tragic accident into a murder case without sufficient evidence of implied malice. “It doesn’t rise to the level of murder,” he said. “Murder is this mental malice. It’s somebody whose malice is saying, ‘I don’t care about human life.’”
He pointed to testimony in which Acosta allegedly expressed devastation over her daughter’s death. “You heard her say, ‘I can’t live without my daughter. My daughter’s the light of my life,’” Somera said. “It just doesn’t make sense how you can say that a mother murdered her.”
Prosecutors point to danger of impaired driving
Palazuelos declined to discuss many specifics before the court rules but said prosecutors believe the evidence presented supports the murder allegation. “This is a prime example of a tragedy that could have been avoided by getting a designated driver,” Palazuelos told The Bee.
“Drinking and driving is inherently dangerous, and it breaks families and it causes unimaginable tragedy,” she said.
Palazuelos said prosecutors plan to file a supplemental brief before next week’s arguments further outlining their position regarding implied malice and Acosta’s alleged duty of care toward her child.
Israels is expected to decide after arguments May 29 whether prosecutors presented enough evidence for Acosta to stand trial.
