SANTA ANA, Orange County - An Orange County Criminal defense attorney contends in a Newport Beach drunk driving death murder defense that his client, Elijah Ferguson, a former Marine, struggled for post traumatic stress disorder from combat in Iraq and should not be convicted of murder in the DUI death of an Orange County doctor.
Ferguson had recently returned from Iraq, got drunk in Feb 2008, but insisted driving while intoxicated. He crashed on a doctor's car. The Newport Beach doctor was dead instantly and his wife was in a major injury.
The Orange County criminal defense lawyer stated that his client suffered from trauma in the combat and he could not understand the seriousness of drinking driving.
He was charged with second-degree murder instead of vehicular manslaughter because he should understand that it is dangerous to drive while intoxicated, but he still did it.
After the incident, he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.12 percent, more than the legal limit of. 08.
He was charged with murder, felony driving under the influence causing body injury, and also felony charge of driving with BOC of 0.08 percent causing the injury. If convicted, he could be sentenced to18 years to life in prison.
