Plea deal reached in case of man accused of killing CHP officer
Photo: Motorcycle officers ride in formation at the conclusion of a memorial service for California Highway Patrol Officer Kirk Griess in Vacaville, California on August 17, 2018. (Image by Matthew Keys, Solano NewsNet file)
A Rocklin man reached a last-minute plea agreement with Solano County prosecutors on Tuesday in the case of a California Highway Patrol officer who was killed during a traffic stop in 2018.
The plea agreement with Sean M. Walker, 39, and the Solano County District Attorney’s Office was entered on the same day his criminal trial was set to take place in a Vallejo courtroom.
Jury selection was scheduled for Tuesday when prosecutors and Walker’s defense attorney entered his guilty plea.
Walker was accused of vehicular homicide in August 2018 after he crashed his pick-up truck into a California Highway Patrol officer and a stopped motorist along Interstate 80 near Fairfield.
The crash killed Officer Kirk Griess, 46, of Vacaville and 49-year-old Jaime B. Manuel of Vallejo.
Prosecutors initially accused Walker of using his cell phone at the time of the crash and of driving his pick-up truck at a high rate of speed. Walker’s defense attorney initially argued his client was looking up symptoms associated with a stroke, and was later diagnosed with a heart condition that required surgery.
A judge allowed the case against Walker to proceed after finding the man made little effort to stop driving during what he believed was a medical emergency.
Last week, prosecutors amended their criminal complaint, further charging Walker with two misdemeanor counts of gross vehicular homicide.
Walker agreed to plead guilty to the two misdemeanor counts on Tuesday, and the felony counts were dismissed, his defense attorney Guyton Jinkerson told Solano NewsNet.
"There are no plea agreement documents, but there was a waiver of rights form filed with the court," Jinkerson said.
The agreement will spare Walker from a prison sentence that loomed over his now-canceled trial, though Jinkerson said no agreement was reached with prosecutors over his eventual sentence, which is scheduled to be pronounced on October 13 in Vallejo.
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