Update Feb. 7, 2024:
A jury on Wednesday recommended probation and no jail time for a man convicted of intoxication manslaughter.
The same jury who delivered a guilty verdict on Tuesday recommended the sentencing for Fabian Lopez.
Lopez will return to court on April 3 to learn the terms of his probation from 186th District Court Judge Kristina Escalona following a presentence investigation report.
Feb. 6, 2024:
A jury delivered a guilty verdict Tuesday afternoon in an intoxication manslaughter trial.
Fabian Lopez was on trial for a deadly wreck on March 13, 2022, that killed 27-year-old Robert Anthony Gutierrez at the intersection of Highway 151 and Potranco Road.
During the trial, which started last week, a witness testified she saw Lopez’s vehicle run a red light and hit the vehicle Gutierrez was in.
On Monday, Lopez’s defense attorneys tried to shift the blame, telling the jury that the driver of the vehicle Gutierrez was in was more than three times the legal limit and that he even told hospital staff he was responsible for the accident.
The defense also brought up an expert witness who said the blood draw done on Lopez was invalid.
The punishment phase got underway following the verdict.
Lopez faces a sentence of two to 20 years in prison.