USC Victim in Hit and Run Found Drunk

October 1, 2009

Los Angeles - The autopsy report of the USC victim who was killed in a hit and run accident was found to be drunk, according to information obtained by a USC student news website.

The report showed that Adrianna Bachan, 18, had a blood-alcohol level of .17. Supervising criminalist Dan Anderson said that the victim was double drunk and that “.08 is the legal limit” of alcohol.

The 30-year-old driver Claudia Cabrera was charged with felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.

Her husband, Josue Luna, 33, was charged with felony hit-and-run. He pulled Garfinkle’s body under the hood of their car before the couple fled from the scene. Garfinkle was Bachan’s companion when the accident happened.

The Police said what happened was Cabrera ran a red light upon crossing Jefferson Boulevard at Hoover Street. She defended otherwise.

Carmen Bachan, the victim’s mother, said this new finding can be used against her daughter during the trial. She further told the USC news website that teenagers do stupid things but it has nothing to do with what happened to her daughter.

Cabrera also injured Marcus Garfinkle who was 19 at that time. He is still recovering from two broken legs and said that Bachan did not seemed drunk. Either way, whether she was drunk or not, still they were going to get ran over by the couple.

Atty. Aresh Hashemi said he hasn’t decided if it will use the toxicology report during the trial while Atty. Mark Werksman said the autopsy might not help the defense’s case.

"The intoxication of the pedestrian normally wouldn’t have anything to do with the defense in a case like this, unless the defense is going to claim that the accident was caused by the behavior of the pedestrian ... Certainly, the intoxication of the victim would have zero bearing on a hit and run charge. How could it?” said Atty. Weksman.

Cabrera and Luna have both pleaded not guilty. A trial date has been set for Nov. 4.