VENTURA : Man Pleads Not Guilty in Pedestrians’ Deaths

A 21-year-old Camarillo man accused of killing two pedestrians this month pleaded not guilty Monday in Ventura County Municipal Court to two counts of vehicular manslaughter.

Gary Scott Samaniego, who suffered neck and collarbone injuries in the May 2 accident, will face a preliminary hearing June 3 to determine whether there is enough evidence against him to warrant a trial, his attorney said.

Defense attorney Richard W. Hanawalt of Ventura said it is unlikely that he will be ready to proceed by then and asked for a preliminary hearing date in late June.

“This is the kind of case that can deteriorate into a grab-fest,” he said, noting the amount of evidence to be reviewed before the hearing.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. James D. Ellison argued against any delays in court proceedings.

“We weren’t willing to put the case off that long,” he said. “We wanted to get it into the system as soon as possible.”

Samaniego is accused of killing two Oxnard residents on May 2 as they were crossing Oxnard Boulevard near 7th Street. Investigators said Samaniego was drunk at the time of the crash and had a blood alcohol level of .29--nearly four times the legal limit.

Hanawalt said his client had “a big blank for days afterward,” and did not remember being in the car or realize that he had killed anyone until informed by investigators.

Baltazar Camacho Bojorquez, 37, and his nephew, Eleno Leyva Bojorquez, 20, were killed instantly as they were crossing the street just before 2 a.m. Another Oxnard man, Tiedor Franco, 61, suffered minor injuries when the car hit his bicycle, police said.

Samaniego, who is free on $10,000 bail, could face up to 13 years in prison if convicted on all counts, Ellison said.