Monday 12 September 2022 10:28 PM Nurse denied bail for LA crash that killed six people, including pregnant woman ... trends now
A judge today denied bail for a nurse accused of causing a horrific car crash in Los Angeles that killed six people - including a pregnant woman and her infant child - after hearing that she was speeding at 130 mph, not 90 mph as originally thought.
'She stole six innocent lives,' Judge Victoria Wilson said of Nicole Linton, 37, who has been in jail since the fiery pileup on August 4 when she drove a Mercedes-Benz that ran a red-light and slammed into other cars at a busy intersection.
'She acted with complete disregard for life,' the judge added, telling LA's downtown criminal court that the victims of the crash were either burned or crushed to death.
Linton's lawyers have argued that she is bipolar, suffered 'an apparent lack of consciousness' before the pileup and should be granted bail so that she can be sent to a mental health facility for treatment.
But Judge Wilson dismissed her claim, saying, 'She had complete control over her manouvers and steering before the crash.
'The defendant floored the gas pedal of her car…..she did not try to stop or slow down….before she plowed into the other cars.'
Noting Linton's history of mental health issues and her admission to police that she had stopped taking prescribed medication, Judge Wilson said that her 'conduct has been escalating in dangerousness.'
The judge called the defense's request to grant Linton bail and send her to a mental health facility, 'not viable' and added, 'I would have no confidence that she would not walk out and be a danger to the public.'
Nicole Linton, 37, has been in jail since the fiery pileup on August 4 where she sped through a red light in Los Angeles at 130mph
Linton's lawyers have argued that she is bipolar, suffered 'an apparent lack of consciousness' before the pileup and should be granted bail so that she can be sent to a mental health facility for treatment. The judge called the defense's request to grant Linton bail and send her to a mental health facility, 'not viable' and added, 'I would have no confidence that she would not walk out and be a danger to the public'
Judge Victoria Wilson denied bail, telling the court: 'She acted with complete disregard for life.' She added that the victims of the crash were either burned or crushed to death
The fiery crash scene in Windsor Hills, Los Angeles, where six people were killed after Linton sped through a red light at 130mph on August 4
Linton is facing up to 90 years in jail if convicted of the six murders she's charged with.
'This is a strong incentive to flee,' Judge Wilson told the court today, 'The defendant will be held with no bail.'
The judge's decision to deny bail and grant the prosecution's motion to keep Linton in jail till her trial, drew applause from about 20 of the victims' family members in court today, some of them wearing purple T-shirts bearing the words 'Justice for Asherey Ryan', the eight-months-pregnant woman killed in the tragedy.
Linton is charged with six counts of murder and five of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. One of the murder charges was filed for Asherey's unborn son.
Linton appeared at today's hearing wearing gray prison overalls after hobbling on one crutch to a chair because of the broken foot plus broken wrist she reportedly suffered in the accident.
Deputy District Attorney Antonella Nistorescu told the court that while Linton's speed at the time of the crash was originally estimated to be 90mph, 'further an analysis reveals that her speed at impact was in fact 130mph and that she floored the gas pedal for at least the five seconds leading into the crash, going from 122 mph to 130 mph.'
She maintained that video cameras near the crash site and recorded data from the Mercedes show that Linton 'was steering with incredible precision' as her care barreled toward the crowded intersection.
'This NASCAR-worthy performance flies in the face of the notion that she was unconscious or incapacitated,'Nistorescu added in a new written declaration opposing bail.
Linton's lawyers' claims that she wasn't conscious of what she was doing at the time of the collision have been backed up by UCLA Doctor William Winter who examined Linton two days after the devastating accident and said in a written statement that she had 'an apparent lack of consciousness' at the time of the crash.
'She has no recollection of the events that led to her collision,' added Dr. Winter. 'The next thing she recalled was lying on the pavement and seeing that her car was on fire.'
Linton's Mercedes raced past a gas station then smashed into the side of a traffic jam, causing a flaming inferno in the Windsor Hills district of Los Angeles on August 4
Police investigate the deadly aftermath of the brutal accident, which killed six people at the intersection of Slauson and La Brea avenues
Graphic shows the direction the SUV was going in along South La Brea Avenue when it ran the red light and caused the horrendous crash last month
But prosecutors contradicted Linton's claims she couldn't remember, saying that in statements to cops after the crash, her 'insight into the circumstances of the crash is incredibly accurate and consistent with the evidence of her driving conduct.'
Nistorescu said at a previous hearing that the DA has been investigating
