San Diego DUI defendant Jessica Bloom will serve only 4 years and 4 months in state prison. This was the best possible deal an attorney could get on a DUI case like this.
It represents essentially only “low term” on the felony DUI with injury (the minimum, only 16 months) plus the Great Bodily Injury allegation (set at 3 Years), plus concurrent custody time (no extra prison!) on the hit & run charge, equaling only 4 years and 4 months in state prison. Possible Prison Exposure was 9 years!
Her SUV ran into Gunnery Sgt. Dave Smith traveling east on Bernardo Center Drive near West Bernardo Drive, while waiting at a red light.
The DUI collision launched the 34-year-old victim onto the hood of the mid-size SUV, then into the street. The DUI attorney prosecutor stated Bloom got out of the vehicle and appeared to be upset, frantically asking witnesses, “Is he dead?”
The San Diego DUI defendant loaded her front bumper into her SUV and drove off. Witnesses followed her to her apartment a short distance away and called police.
With a BAC of .37% – more than four times the legal limit for driving – she was at or above the level of being comatose.
Talented San Diego County DUI Criminal Defense Lawyer Peter Liss explained to the judge at Bloom’s arraignment that she left the crash scene because she wanted to tell her husband, who is also a Marine, what had happened.
Prominent DUI criminal defense attorney Peter Liss further explained the defendant was devastated by what happened. Bloom might have reasonably been distraught; she felt alone since her husband was about to be deployed soon.
Smith is a highly acclaimed 17-year military veteran, awarded a Bronze Star for valor, having served 4 tour of duty overseas himself; he survived being injured by a roadside bomb.
He was partially decapitated in the accident and placed on life support. Weeks later, he was released from the hospital in what doctors would maintain is essentially a near-miraculous recovery.