Driver in fatal accident gets maximum sentence

Jenny Marder

The drunk driver who caused a fatal crash that claimed the lives of

three young women last year received the maximum sentence of 14 years

in prison last week.

Jillian Baedeker and Chelsea Toma, both 19, and Nancy Le, 18, died

on March 19, 2002, after a yellow 1983 Ford Mustang driven by James

Paul Bell Jr. broadsided their silver 1996 Nissan Sentra.

The accident occurred just before midnight at the corner of Beach

Boulevard and Edinger Avenue.

Bell, 28, whose blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal

limit, sped through at least four red lights at speeds between 60 and

80 mph before colliding with the Sentra, officials said.

“These three girls had everything going for them,” Deputy Dist.

Atty. Kal Kaliban said. “People need to understand that when you

drink and drive like that, someone’s gong to die. It’s the most

senseless tragedy you can imagine.”

The girls, who made up a close-knit group of friends, had been on

their way to Starbucks for a cup of coffee after a day at the beach.

All three were college freshman and former Marina High School

students.

Trial attorney Dean Masserman said he thought that the sentencing

was too harsh, since Bell, of Rowland Heights, had no previous

criminal record and since his blood alcohol level was unclear. His

blood had already been diluted with medications by the time it was

tested, he said.

“We don’t know what he drank or when he drank it,” Masserman said.

“We don’t know what transpired from the time he drank and the time of

accident.”

Kaliban said that it wasn’t harsh enough.

“I don’t think that a prior criminal record is everything when

looking at a serious criminal case,” Kaliban said. “When you look at

what he did, and the fact that he killed three girls just beginning

their lives ... anybody with any common sense realizes that if you

speed through Beach Boulevard like that, at 80 mph, somebody’s going

to die.”

Kaliban believes the law should be changed so that there’s an

option for longer sentencing.

“All along, I was thinking that the case warranted the possible

penalty,” he said. “It hardly seems like enough for three lives.”

Last year in California, 40% of the 4,078 total traffic deaths

were alcohol related, according to the U.S. Department of

Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. An

estimated 17,419 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes

nationwide.

Kaliban said he hopes that Bell’s sentence will discourage others

from drinking and driving.

“I hope that people understand that people who drive like that are

going to get punished to the maximum in Orange County,” Kaliban said.

“It’s important that the judge did give the maximum. It clearly sends

that message.”