Appeals court throws out life sentence for smuggler whose crash killed 10 illegal immigrants
By APTuesday, August 10, 2010
Life sentence thrown out in deadly immigrant crash
PHOENIX — An appeals court has thrown out the life sentence of a suspected smuggler who was the driver during a June 2006 rollover crash in southwestern Arizona that killed 10 illegal immigrants, including a pregnant woman.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the U.S. District Court in Arizona didn’t find that Adan Pineda-Doval planned the deaths or act with malice, and it didn’t provide the correct standard of proof at his sentencing.
In its decision filed Tuesday, the 9th Circuit affirmed Pineda-Doval’s conviction but vacated his life sentence and sent the case back to the Arizona court for re-sentencing.
If the court finds Pineda-Doval acted with malice or planned the deaths, it could re-sentence him to life in prison.
