Possession of less than 1 oz of marijuana only punishable by $100 after 1/1/11

Have you been arrested in San Diego for possession of marijuana? Was the amount of marijuana less than one ounce?

Under a state law that takes effect Jan. 1, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana will be an infraction punishable by a $100 fine. Today it is a misdemeanor punishable by a $100 fine.

The new law does not go as far as Prop 19, which voters rejected Tuesday. That would have legalized possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana for personal use by anyone 21 or older in California.

Under the law passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, SB1449, possession of less than an ounce will no longer be a misdemeanor or go on a person's criminal record. Instead, it will be an infraction, similar to a speeding ticket. That has some people wondering whether the infraction will go on a person's driving record and affect insurance rates.
Possession of more than one ounce of marijuana will remain a criminal offense and can be charged as a misdemeanor or even a felony, potentially resulting in county jail or state prison. If you have been arrested for possession of marijuana in San Diego, contact the Law Offices of Aaron T. Hicks today for a free consultation at (619) 940-5566 or aaron@athlaw.com. You may have defenses in court to keep you out of jail.

Nuñez’s son, cohort plead guilty in slaying

BY DANA LITTLEFIELD, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER


Esteban Nunez (left), shown at a previous hearing, and an accomplice have pleaded guilty in the stabbing death of a man on the SDSU campus.

SAN DIEGO COURTS — The son of a former California Assembly speaker and another man pleaded guilty Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter stemming from a 2008 brawl on the San Diego State University campus that ended in the death of a 22-year-old college student.

Ryan Jett, 24, and Esteban Nuñez, 21 — son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez — also pleaded guilty to two counts each of assault with a deadly weapon and admitted using a knife in the incident and causing great bodily injury.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert O’Neill ordered them held at the County Jail until a sentencing hearing scheduled for June 25, when they each could be sent to prison for up to 16 years. Both had previously been out on bail.

Jett and Nuñez are two of four defendants originally charged with murder and assault in the Oct. 4, 2008, stabbing that killed Mesa College student Luis Santos — also referred to in court as Luis Dos Santos. They entered their guilty pleas a day after jury selection began in their trial.

Co-defendants Rafael Garcia, 20, and Leshanor Thomas, 21, had already pleaded guilty to felony charges but have not been sentenced.

Garcia pleaded guilty Sept. 17 to conspiracy to destroy evidence. He faces a possible sentence of up to three years in prison.

Thomas pleaded guilty in February to assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit assault with a deadly weapon. He faces a possible sentence of up to four years and eight months in prison.

The victim’s parents, Fred and Kathy Santos of Concord, said in a phone interview Wednesday that they are glad the case is nearing an end. The loss of their son and the stress of the trial’s start have taken a toll on their close-knit family, particularly their daughter, now 25.

The parents said they would have preferred to see the defendants convicted of murder and sent to prison for life, but are relieved that they will not have to endure a lengthy appeals process.

“I think I can sleep at night without feeling regret,” Fred Santos said, adding that in this context there is no such thing as a fair outcome. “I want my son back,” he said.

Prosecutors have said the four men were on the SDSU campus and got angry when kicked out of a fraternity party. They went looking for a fight and challenged Santos and his friends on 55th Street near Peterson Gym. Santos was killed; three others were wounded.

After the fight, the men piled into a car and drove to Sacramento. Later, Nuñez, Garcia and Jett drove to the Sacramento River.

A witness said at a previous hearing that Nuñez put a plastic bag on the ground containing clothing and what looked like a knife. Jett doused the bag with gasoline and set it on fire, the witness said.

Defense attorneys have contended that their clients acted in self-defense and that others in the fight had knives. They noted that Jett was stabbed in his right leg.

A call to Fabian Nuñez’s home in Sacramento was answered Wednesday night by a person who identified herself as a family friend. She said Nuñez was not available for comment and that his family wants privacy.

ATH Law Launches 5-1-2010

We are pleased to announce the opening of the Law Offices of Aaron T. Hicks on May 1, 2010. The main office is located at 110 W C Street, Suite 1300, San Diego, CA 92101 with offices conveniently located throughout San Diego County. The firm will concentrate primarily of DUI and Criminal Defense. We welcome any referrals and offer a free consultation. Feel free to contact us at aaron@athlaw.com or (619) 940-5566, or visit our website at www.athlaw.com, (site will be up on 5/7)

Poor Corey Dillon

Poor guy is having a bad month -- he was busted for DUI this morning, and TMZ has learned his wife just filed for divorce.

Desiree Dillon filed a petition for divorce earlier this month in L.A. County Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences.

The couple has three children and have been married for 10 years. According to court documents, Desiree wants full legal and physical custody of the kids -- with Corey getting visitation.

In the filing, Desiree is asking the former New England Patriots star to fork over cash for spousal support and attorney's fees.

As for the DUI -- Corey was pulled over by L.A. County Sheriff's deputies at 3:38am today near Malibu on Mulholland Drive. He's still in custody.

UPDATE: Dillon was released from custody -- he's expected back in court in June.

As for why cops pulled Dillon over to begin with, officers claim they noticed a man in a red Chevy Camaro driving slowly behind them. When cops approached the car, they claim Dillon admitted to drinking earlier in the evening.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/21/corey-dillon-dui-arrest-malibu-new-england-patriots/#ixzz0lnFQglMR

Family angry at DA's Office

Relatives of the Poway couple killed in their home on Easter Sunday by a neighbor blamed the District Attorney’s Office Tuesday for the deaths and read from a letter written by one of the victims that eerily predicted what was to come.

The neighbor, Robert Reed, had stabbed two members of the family in 2008, leading to criminal charges that prosecutors later dropped. About 6 p.m. Sunday, Reed shot to death Mitch Cunnyngham, 58, and his wife, Diane “Dee Dee” Cunnyngham, 56.

After the incident in 2008, Mitch Cunnyngham wrote to the lead prosecutor, Michael Zachry, “By doing this you have emboldened Mr. Reed.”

Cunnyngham said Reed had access to many weapons that were found in his home during a police search.

“What will now be the weapon of his choice?” he wrote. “The only weapon my family has is common sense, four video cameras, avoidance and fear ... What’s next? Who’s next? And what will be the result? You and the DA’s Office will carry this burden with you when it happens.”

Zachry did not return a call seeking comment. A spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office said a statement released Monday will be its only response: “Charges against Robert Reed were dismissed in 2008 after conflicting evidence came to light. ... It is our ethical duty as prosecutors to continually evaluate the strength of our cases and dismiss charges when appropriate.”

Reed, 59, was shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies as he pointed a shotgun at them. His death ended a feud with the Cunnynghams that had lasted more than a decade.

About a dozen relatives of the Cunnynghams’ gathered Tuesday outside the couple’s house on Olive Grove Place to speak to the news media.

“Two days ago, a man named Robert Clifford Reed took it upon himself to brutally terrorize and in cold blood mindlessly murder my parents,” said David Cunnyngham, one of Reed’s stabbing victims in 2008.

“The events leading up to this past weekend were the culmination of childish fistfights, meaningless exchanging of words, wasted court proceedings, and even more seriously, a stabbing incident in which I am convinced Mr. Reed was intent on ending my life.”

Cunnyngham said his parents were so concerned about Reed that they installed surveillance cameras outside their house. He said the county Sheriff’s Department now has the tapes, which he said show much of Reed’s assault and may include images of him returning to his house to get another gun after the first misfired.

Cunnyngham said he believes Reed would have killed his wife, Myrna, and their 8-year-old daughter, Gabriella, who were hiding in a bathroom when the shootings occurred in the family room. He said he doesn’t know what sparked the rage.

Reed was an ex-naval officer and longtime employee of General Atomics as a technical writer and editor. In 2008, he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after he stabbed David Cunnyngham and his mother during an altercation. Reed was headed for trial when the District Attorney’s Office dropped the case.

“Was there nothing that the justice system could have done to punish this man for the prior incidents?” David Cunnyngham asked.

Don Cunnyngham, Mitch’s brother, said the family has hired a lawyer to consider suing the county.

Former District Attorney Paul Pfingst, who is now in private practice, said such a lawsuit would be very difficult to win.

“Prosecutorial and judicial immunity are two of the strongest immunities in civil law,” Pfingst said. “It’s designed to stop second-guessing in these types of situations. The prospects of success in such a suit are extremely remote.”

Anaheim cop has 3 open DUI cases

SANTA ANA – An Anaheim police officer resigned Tuesday amid a department investigation and after being charged with driving under the influence of a cocktail of prescription drugs for the third time in less than a year.

The officer, who hasn't been to work since late 2008 but remained on paid administrative leave, has pleaded not guilty in one case of driving under the influence from an incident last March. The two latest charges were filed last week and Tuesday.

Kevin Noel Schlueter, 37, of Costa Mesa, is charged in three separate cases with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs for each case.

Schlueter's three DUI arrests were first revealed earlier this month by the Register.

If convicted in all three cases, Schlueter faces up to two years and six months behind bars. Schlueter is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

Schlueter had been on leave since November 2008 for what department spokesman Sgt. Rick Martinez said was "a variety of reasons." Personnel rules prohibit him from giving specifics, Martinez said.

Schlueter's leave had been unpaid at first. But then in November 2009, months after Schlueter's first DUI arrest, Anaheim officials put him on paid administrative leave.

After Schlueter's arrests were publicized by the Register, Anaheim police issued a statement saying:

"The Anaheim Police Department is cooperating with the OC District Attorney's office in its prosecution of these cases and we have contacted the Department of Motor Vehicles regarding the officer's future driving privileges. We are also expediting our internal investigation into this matter in order to reach a decision concerning the officer's employment as soon as possible."

Schlueter resigned from the department Tuesday, Martinez said.

Schlueter's trouble behind the wheel appears to have started on March 18, 2009, when he was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol after nearly slamming into a CHP squad car. Several drivers had called 911 to report a possible DUI driver at the wheel of a silver Chevy Tahoe on the 405 freeway that night, said CHP Officer Ray Payton.

Dispatchers sent a CHP officer ahead of the possible drunken driver weaving in the slow lane to wait for him to drive by, according to the report. The Tahoe drove by – careening onto the right shoulder of the freeway and coming within a foot of hitting the waiting CHP squad car, the report said.

The officer watched as the Tahoe weaved from side to side, nearly colliding with a Range Rover. The CHP officer pulled the Tahoe over and after doing field sobriety tests on the driver, later identified as Schlueter, arrested him, according to the CHP report.

According to the Orange County District Attorney's Office, Schlueter is accused of displaying signs of drug intoxication including "shaking hands, red and watery eyes, slurred speech, and appeared lethargic." Prosecutors accuse Schlueter of being under the influence of prescription drugs that impaired his ability to drive including hydrocodone, hydromorphone, phenmetrazine, phendimetrazine, and carisoprodol.

Someone came to pick up Schlueter at the CHP office. On Sept. 1, 2009 prosecutors filed one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence. Schlueter pleaded not guilty.

On Jan. 21 prosecutors say Schlueter was driving on Oakridge Lane in Huntington Beach around 9:30 p.m. when he crashed his car through the backyard fence of a home. He sat in the driver's seat with the engine running until Huntington Beach police showed up, according to prosecutors.

Again Schlueter is accused of showing signs of being under the influence of drugs, including "slurred speech, a lack of coordination, and a lack of balance." According to prosecutors, he is accused of being under the influence of prescription drugs that impaired his ability to drive including hydrocodone, hydromorphone, meprobamate, and carisoprodol.

Schlueter was arrested and later released. Last week prosecutors charged Schlueter with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs.

On March 2, Schlueter was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing a 2010 Jeep Liberty into four parked cars on his own street in Costa Mesa in the middle of the afternoon.

According to prosecutors, Schlueter crashed into three parked cars, reversed his Jeep, and crashed into a fourth parked car while backing up.

The crashes ripped the right wheel off the axle of Schlueter's Liberty, according to Costa Mesa police Lt. Rob Sharpnack. The Liberty also suffered rear bumper damage, Sharpnack said.

An employee of an ambulance company saw the accidents and put the injured Schlueter in the back of the ambulance and waited for Costa Mesa police officers to arrive, according to prosecutors.

Again, according to prosecutors, Schlueter showed "objective" signs of drug intoxication including "having red and watery eyes and being incoherent and lethargic." He is accused of being under the influence of prescription drugs that impaired his ability to drive including phentermine, carisoprodol, and oxycodone.

Schlueter was treated at the hospital for his injuries and released. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged him with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs – his third such charge in less than a year.

Senators who think they are above the law

Some media are questioning initial reports that California state senator Roy Ashburn was at a gay bar in Sacramento before he was arrested on drunk driving charges early Wednesday morning.

On Thursday, CBS 13 reported that Ashburn, who has an antigay voting record, had been pulled over by the state highway patrol and charged with two misdemeanors: driving under the influence and driving with a blood alcohol level higher than .08% or higher. The station said that he left a popular gay bar, Faces, with another man before his arrest.

However, the Visalia Times-Delta questions the claim about the bar visit.

”Despite the frenzy, the Sacramento station's reports have been unsubstantiated, and the manager of Faces, the gay nightclub Ashburn was said to have visited, told the Talking Points Memo blog that she did not see the senator there Tuesday night,” reported the Times-Delta.

In addition, NBC station KGET 17 quotes the gay bar's chief financial officer, who cannot confirm whether Ashburn visited the large venue, which has five rooms and three dance floors.

“Mike Johnston, the chief financial officer of Faces Nightclub would not confirm if the senator was spotted there,” reported KGET 17. “‘We had a management meeting with the management staff and none of the managers saw him and none of the staff we spoke with saw him. We can't confirm he was here, we can't confirm it,’ Johnston said.”

Ashburn was pulled over with an unidentified man in his state-owned, black Chevy Tahoe. The man’s identity has not been disclosed because he was not charged.

Ashburn, a divorced father of four, has not spoken publicly about the incident except to issue an apology. He did not report to work at the legislature on Thursday.

OC Deputy DUI crash

An off-duty Orange County sheriff’s deputy, who allegedly was intoxicated when he crashed his Mercedes-Benz into another vehicle and injured a passenger, had crashed 30 minutes earlier and was allowed to drive from that accident scene by fellow deputies, authorities said Friday.

Sheriff’s deputies were called Monday afternoon to a crash involving Deputy Allan James Waters, 36, and another vehicle outside City Hall in Dana Point. Deputies took a report and permitted Waters keep driving, said Assistant Sheriff Mike James.

About 30 minutes later, at 5:20 p.m., Waters crashed his Mercedes-Benz into a Toyota in Laguna Niguel, causing it to cross the center median and slam into a tree, according to the California Highway Patrol. Dolores Molina, a 78-year-old passenger in the Toyota, suffered minor injuries.

CHP officers said Waters showed signs of being intoxicated and was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was released Wednesday, according to jail records.

Waters is a 13-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, assigned to south Orange County, James said.

The department is conducting an internal investigation to determine why Waters was allowed to keep driving, James said.

Waters had been placed on administrative leave about two months ago, but James would not say why. He said the deputy will remain on leave while the investigations are conducted.

FYI - stay away from checkpoints if you are hammered....even on foot

An intoxicated pedestrian who walked up to a sobriety checkpoint to see what was taking place was among five arrested Monday, police said.

Police arrested Rodrigo Sajvin Cumes, 37, of Costa Mesa, on a public intoxication charge after he went up to the checkpoint held on Harbor Boulevard at Fair Drive, said Costa Mesa police Sgt. Phil Myers. Cumes was so intoxicated that he could not care for his safety, according to police.

Three people were arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and 15 citations were issued, police said. Police screened 633 cars out of 2,055 that went through the checkpoint.

Also, police said two drivers switched seats with passengers out of fear of being arrested for driving under the influence. Those drivers were not arrested, Myers said.

This guy has some balls LOL

Prosecutors on Thursday charged a former Oceanside resident with stealing a small plane from an airfield near San Diego and making an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport.

San Diego County prosecutors charged Skye Turner with felony counts of stealing an aircraft, grand theft and burglary. The 23-year-old, who is set to be arraigned this afternoon, faces up to three years in prison if convicted.

Turner was arrested Feb. 19 after landing the Cirrus SR22, which was reported stolen from Montgomery Field.

The Federal Aviation Administration says Turner had an expired student pilot license.

His father, Peter Turner of Oceanside, told NBC 7/39 last week that his son, who now lives in El Cajon, spent countless hours playing flight-simulator games on the computer and had been rejected from at least one flight school

San Diego cops to use video on heads

SAN DIEGO — Nine San Diego police officers will be participating in a pilot program to test head-mounted video cameras that will record their interactions with the public.

Police are expected to offer more details during a demonstration of the technology Tuesday morning.

The camera is about the size of a Bluetooth earpeice with a headband, and the recording device is the size of a large cell phone, authorities said. The technology is made by Phoenix-based Taser International.

Also testing the equipment is 18 officers from the San Jose Police Department, with Taser paying for the experiment, the department reported in December.

Another crooked cop

An Oceanside police sergeant accused of accepting fraudulently purchased items to update his home pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of receiving stolen property, authorities said.

Walter McWilson, a 10-year veteran of the department, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 15, said Paul Levikow, a District Attorney’s Office spokesman.

McWilson appeared in Vista Superior Court.

Investigators said McWilson knowingly received $54,000 worth of items in 2006 and 2007 purchased by a Murrieta woman who was embezzling funds from the Oceanside-based construction company where she worked. Prosecutors said McWilson had a romantic relationship with the woman, an office manager for the company.

The items he received included mahogany wood flooring, Travertine tile, high-tech equipment for a home recording studio and flat-screen TVs. Authorities accused McWilson of selling one 50-inch plasma television to a neighbor and then pocketing $1,200 in cash.

McWilson, who was most recently a supervisor for the department’s Neighborhood Policing Team, was considered by his peers to be a rising star within the Police Department until he was put on administrative leave in August. He originally faced 14 felony charges of receiving stolen property, grand theft and conspiracy.

Think cops dont get special treatment....think again

Riverside police recommended no action in its report of Chief Russ Leach's 3 a.m. hit-and-run crash, despite indicating he "had been drinking," he couldn't recall where he had crashed and that he was unaware of the extent of his car's damage.

In the six-page traffic collision report, obtained Thursday by The Press-Enterprise, officers make no mention of attempting to give the chief a field sobriety test after they found him driving on the rims of his dented, scratched city-issued black Chrysler 300.

The report was issued by Riverside police the morning of the collision. On Tuesday police handed the investigation over to the California Highway Patrol.

Leach "was unable to provide a statement" regarding his wreck Monday at Central and Hillside avenues, according to the report by Riverside police Sgt. Frank Orta. Two officers had stopped him more than three miles away, later learning he ran into a fire hydrant and light pole.

The chief "would only say that he had a flat tire and that he had driven into a field or dirt road," Orta wrote. The chief repeated that several times.

"It was evident that he was unaware that he had a collision and that his vehicle suffered major damages," Orta wrote.

In the portion of the report where officers can address a driver's sobriety, they checked a box labeled "HBD -- Impairment Unknown." HBD stands for "had been drinking."

Other options include "had not been drinking," "impairment not known" and "not applicable."

Despite a witness reporting that Leach's car left the scene of the initial collision, officers did not check hit-and-run on the report, and ultimately, listed "file" as their recommendation for disposition.

Standard practice in cases to be submitted for possible charges is to indicate the report will be forwarded to the district attorney's office.

Leach, 61, remains on medical leave. He has said he was disoriented on prescription medication at the time.

More on the report's release later.

Vista judge criticizes DA's office

A veteran North County judge who last month openly criticized the District Attorney’s Office for not following rules for turning over evidence to defense lawyers is now being called biased by prosecutors who want him off the case.

A court hearing on the simmering conflict between longtime Superior Court Judge Harry M. Elias and prosecutors is scheduled for this morning in Vista, days after the District Attorney’s Office ended a months-long boycott against a judge in downtown San Diego.

The dispute with Elias, a former prosecutor who has been a judge since 1990, goes back to comments he made at a hearing in December.

Sounding more than a little perturbed, Elias said then that prosecutors in Vista were not following rules for turning over relevant material to the defense, as required, in some cases.

He implied that some judges believed it to be “deliberate and intentional” — and that the stature of the office is plummeting.

According to a hearing transcript, Elias said to prosecutors that “you need to be concerned about the reputation of the office, because it’s not good.”

“It’s clearly not good among the defense bar,” the judge continued.

He went further, saying the reputation “was not good among judicial officers, many of whom were colleagues to people you still work with.”

The December hearing was unusual in that a colleague of Elias, Superior Court Judge Dan Goldstein, who is also a former prosecutor, was present in the courtroom, as were Summer Stephan and Garland Peed, the top two supervisors of the District Attorney’s Office in Vista.

In court papers filed in preparation for today’s hearing, Deputy District Attorney Katherine Flaherty said Elias’ comments show that he can’t be impartial — and that in order to protect their rights to a fair hearing, he has to step down.

“The court’s comments in this case reflect a clear mindset of bias and prejudice against prosecutors in the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office,” Flaherty wrote. “… There can be no impartial ruling from a judge who believes that prosecutors deliberately and intentionally violate the constitutional rights of defendants by failing to provide discovery.”

Neither Flaherty nor defense lawyers Sherry Stone or Kathleen Cannon would comment on the case. Both sides will be in court this morning in front of Elias.

The filing is stirring interest in the Vista courts among defense lawyers, several of whom said they were taken aback by the harsh tone against Elias.

The filing also came as the boycott of Superior Court Judge John Einhorn in San Diego was ending. The reasons for prosecutors’ blanket boycott of Einhorn, lasting from September until Monday, were never revealed by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

Dumanis was criticized by defense lawyers and some judges, who said she was trying to bully the bench with the tactic.

At issue in the Elias matter is whether prosecutors had turned over to the defense information about a pawnshop receipt in a case dealing with the theft of two bicycles. Forensic analysts with the District Attorney’s Office were able to match six fingerprints in the case to the defendant, Kenneth Bowles, but found that one print on a receipt with his name was “inconclusive.”

Bowles’ defense lawyer said that information about the inconclusive print was omitted from a report and that such an error is critical enough to dismiss the case.

Prosecutors vigorously argue that the information was available to the defense lawyer as part of court exhibits and also came out during testimony. They also say there is no requirement to turn over information that is inconclusive.

Elias said at the hearing that he doubted that legal position. He postponed a decision to allow both sides to file briefs on the issue.

Prosecutors contend now that Elias abandoned his neutrality; bullied the prosecutor, Vanessa Du Vall; and conducted “what amounted to a ‘lynching’ ” of Du Vall.

This is not the first Vista case in recent months involving disputes about turning over information to the defense. In October, three men accused of raping a woman pleaded guilty to lesser charges after defense lawyers complained that tape recordings of the woman’s statements were not turned over until three weeks before trial.

In December, a man facing charges of mayhem and domestic violence pleaded guilty to lesser charges after Cannon received a DNA report just before trial on a knife found at the crime scene. She said the report supported her client’s defense and that it had been completed in May, but not turned over.

Will CA charge Manslaughter for death to a fetus in future

California DUI charge for death of unborn child considered
A New Year's Day accident around 3AM in the San Diego area took the life of a 6-month's pregnant woman and her unborn child.

Authorities have charged the suspect, 40-year-old Joseph Antony Venegas, with gross vehicular manslaughter and two counts of DUI causing injury. Arraignment for Venegas has been postponed because the driver was in medical isolation; he was only arraigned last Friday on the charges.

21-year-old Elaina Luquis-Ortiz and her unborn child, Romeo Fransisco, were both killed and two others were injured. Venegas was not charged in the death of the fetus, which is possible though not uniformly enforced in the state of California. The decision on this matter is pending.

Luquis-Ortiz was traveling home with her husband from a New Year's Eve party when they were called to assist another driver with a flat tire. She pulled her own car behind the disabled vehicle to await further assistance. At that point, a much larger Chevrolet Tahoe struck the parked car.

Luquis-Ortis died at the scene nearly immediately upon impact. The other passengers, who she was assisting, suffered serious injuries.