Two men who had been involved in a fender-bender decided to drive recklessly when they sped down a busy street and crashed into a minivan, killing a 16-year-old high school baseball player and critically injuring his father in south Torrance nearly three years ago, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday, Jan. 15.
But defense attorneys for both Darryl Leander Hicks Jr., 31, of Los Angeles and Tung Ming, 24, of Rancho Palos Verdes said several complicating factors, and not mere recklessness, led the pair to speed down the hill from Rolling Hills Estates on March 7, 2017.
They said the prosecution overreached in charging the men with gross vehicular manslaughter in a three-vehicle crash that killed Jesse Esphorst Jr. and critically injured his father, also Jesse, during opening statements of an anticipated 10-day trial in Torrance Superior Court.
But prosecutor Ryan Gould told the jury that usually after a fender bender, both parties pull over, exchange information and move on.
“That is not what happened here,” he said. “Because of a series of choices both defendants made, they drove recklessly, carelessly and without regard for human life.”
Witnesses and police estimated the two vehicles to be traveling about 80 miles per hour when they collided in succession with the Esphorts’ minivan as it attempted to make a left turn on a green arrow from southbound Crenshaw Boulevard to eastbound Crest Road.
The minivan clipped Hicks’ vehicle as it sped by on a red light, but Ming’s SUV followed and hit the minivan head on, which was believed to be the fatal collision.
Witnesses who ran up to render aid found Jesse Esphorst Sr. slumped over his son in the passenger seat, with the younger Esphorst’s upper body partly hanging out the passenger window.
The son suffered a broken sternum, skull fractures and a neck dislocation, while the father suffered a broken right nasal bone, a three-centimeter cut on his scalp requiring 10 staples and brain hemorrhaging, Gould said.
Ming stayed at the scene following the collision while Hicks fled. His damaged car was found a quarter-mile away from the crash site and he was arrested days later.
Both men face counts of vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving on a highway causing injuries and death. Hicks also faces counts of hit-and-run driving resulting in death or serious injury to another person, hit-and-run driving resulting in injury to another person and misdemeanor counts of hit-and-run resulting in property damage and driving on a suspended license.
Hicks faces 12 years in prison if convicted as charged, while Ming faces nine years. Both men are free on bail.
The incident began when Hicks made an illegal U-turn to go southbound on Crenshaw Boulevard while Ming was making a legal left turn from Silver Spur Road. Their cars collided before Hicks fled and Ming pursued while calling 911, which led to the fatal crash, Gould said.
Richard Hutton, representing Ming, said the case was unique in the fact that the co-defendants had never met.
Hicks’ attorney Daniel Perlman told the jury his client was headed home with his girlfriend when he made the U-turn. After the collision, Ming’s SUV appeared to veer toward Hicks’ sedan and Hicks fled out of fear that Ming would retaliate, Perlman said.
Hutton told the jury that Ming was simply following the order of a sheriff’s department 911 operator, who asked him three times to try to get the license plate number of the vehicle that had hit him, only to request he stop chasing the vehicle almost simultaneously with the moment of impact, which was heard on the recording.
The defense attorneys were not disputing that the collisions occurred, or that there was tremendous loss as a result, but disagreed with the vehicular manslaughter charge and the contention that gross negligence was involved.
Perlman said Hicks’ girlfriend, seated in the passenger seat of his car, told him that she could no longer see Ming’s SUV in the rear view mirror and suggested he slow down in the seconds before the collision with the Esphorsts, adding Hicks was unaware Ming also hit the minivan.
“You will hear evidence and testimony that my client did not know the second collision occurred or how serious it was,” Perlman told the jury.
Hicks heard about the fatal collision on the news, Perlman said, adding Hicks called him and planned to turn himself in, but was called in to work first and arrested there by police.
Hutton followed and pointed out that Ming was the listed victim in one of the counts against Hicks. He argued that if Hicks was truly afraid, he should have called 911. He claimed Hicks may have fled because he had been drinking and was driving on a suspended license.
Ultimately, Ming didn’t display the mental state of someone with a disregard for human life, Hutton argued.
“It doesn’t make it right, but maybe there are other factors involved,” Hutton said. “In no way, shape or form do we blame the Esphorsts for any part of what happened. It’s a true tragedy and my client feels terrible about it.”
Jesse Esphorst Jr. was a talented shortstop for the South Torrance High baseball team and had just hit a home run to lead his team to victory hours prior to the crash.
More than 2,000 people, including hundreds who knew him through high school and Little League, attended his funeral.