Guitarist Josh Klinghoffer (Pearl Jam, ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc.) was arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence today, September 26th. The 44-year-old musician entered a not guilty plea to the charge via his legal representation.
Klinghoffer was hit with the charge in August following an incident which took place on March 18th of this year. Klinghoffer was behind the wheel of his GMC Yukon SUV in Alhambra, CA when it struck 47-year-old Israel Sanchez at a crosswalk. Israel would later succumb to the injuries he sustained in that crash several hours, passing away while under care at a nearby hospital.
A wrongful death lawsuit was filed this past summer against Klinghoffer by Israel’s daughter Ashley. In it, the family alleged Klinghoffer was distracted by his phone during the accident. However, according to Rolling Stone, the police investigation into the matter ruled out the involvement of a phone in the incident.
Grayson Yoder, an attorney representing the Sanchez family claimed that Klinghoffer appeared to be holding a phone “seconds” prior to the incident, citing surveillance footage. Yoder told Rolling Stone of that:
“If they have exculpatory evidence, it’s never been presented to us. All I can see is what I see on the video. If he says he’s not on his phone, fine. But it’s the middle of the day, he’s coming into an intersection and there are no brake lights on his vehicle, none, not until a man is hit in the crosswalk.
I’m skeptical of exculpatory evidence, and I can’t speak to the DA and their charges, but at the end of the day, in broad daylight, he had many, many opportunities for this not to have happened. There’s no other word for it besides negligence. We allege that it’s gross negligence.”
