Reversal denied in Oakmont manslaughter case

An elderly Santa Rosa driver who hit two Oakmont women with her car in 2016, killing one of them, must serve out her more than seven-year prison term, a judge has ruled.|

An elderly Santa Rosa driver who ran over two Oakmont women in 2016, killing one of them, must serve out her more than seven-year prison term, a judge has ruled.

Gayle Gray, 79, was sentenced in the crash that killed Jackie Simon, 85, and seriously injured Josephine Ross, then 91. She pleaded no contest to driving under the influence of prescription drugs and alcohol when she ran into the women as they walked outside a shopping center in the retirement community.

Gray had previously been convicted of drunken driving in 1994 and 2003.

Last year, Gray’s lawyers sought to reverse her sentence, claiming a newly discovered brain disorder and not the drugs and alcohol caused the crash. They filed a writ in Sonoma County Superior Court, seeking to have Gray brought back from the state’s women’s prison in Chowchilla.

After hearing testimony last week, Judge Elliot Daum on Friday denied the request, finding she lacked grounds to withdraw her plea and bring her case to a jury.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 707-568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.

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