Trial for DUI resulting in serious injury – Lake County Record-Bee

In July 2021, a four-vehicle collision occurred in Clearlake Oaks that sent several people to the hospital. A Pacifica man faced numerous drunk driving charges.

During a recent hearing, defendant Stephen Robert Williams pleaded not guilty to all counts and denied the specific allegations.

The issue of bail was discussed taking into account the safety of the public and/or victims, ability to pay and his history in relation to allegations.

The court had decided that the bail would remain as previously set.

The matter is scheduled for a settlement conference on May 10, 2024, with a jury trial scheduled for later this month.

Since the defendant was not present at a hearing last year, the court found no good reason for his failure to appear and issued a warrant for his arrest for failure to appear.

On March 22, 2024, the defendant was arrested by the Clearlake Police Department pursuant to this warrant and booked into the Lake County Jail in Lakeport.

At a hearing last year, the defendant’s bail was relieved.

At a hearing in 2023, the defendant was present and not in custody and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. The court and the people agreed to the defendant’s waiver.

At that time it was ordered that the defendant had to answer to the allegations.

In 2023, the defendant was not present at a hearing because his defense attorney, attorney Jonathan B. Steele, was present pursuant to California Penal Code 977. This penal code allows a lawyer to appear on behalf of the client without the defendant/client being present.

There is another case in this matter in which the defendant is accused of hit-and-run causing damage to property. Last month, Assistant District Attorney Rachel Abelson said she would amend the plea in the case to change the charge to a felony.

The defendant was not present at a preliminary hearing last year.

Defense attorney Jonathan B. Steele told the court that the defendant contacted him the day before the hearing to say he was having medical problems.

At this point the matter was followed up to see if the defense attorney had any medical records.

When the matter was recalled, defense counsel stated that he had no medical records and could not have contact with the defendant.

The court saw no good reason for the defendant’s failure to appear. The court ordered the issuance of a warrant for failure to appear with a bond set at $70,000.

In 2022, the defendant was absent from a recent hearing, while his attorney, Jonathan B. Steele, again attended remotely pursuant to California Penal Code 977.

During the hearing there was a discussion about which subpoenaed documents should have been received. There were also concerns about the need to have these documents for the preliminary hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Rachel Abelson said she would handle the records matter because defense attorney Steele had requested that the matter be continued to allow resolution of the subpoenaed records issue.

At the defendant’s request, the court ordered the proceedings to continue.

At a hearing in September 2022, the preliminary hearing was set to continue because both lawyers lacked information about some alleged victims.

Even then the matter continued.

The parties agreed that the subpoenaed medical records in the clerk’s file could be turned over to Assistant District Attorney Rachel Abelson for copying and then returned to the clerk’s file. There were no objections to the chain of custody.

In April 2022, the defendant was present remotely and not in custody at Lake County Superior Court for recall of his warrant.

In February 2022, the defendant was not present because his assigned defense attorney, Jonathan B. Steele, stated that his client still had health issues resulting from the vehicle accident and requested that the matter be continued.

A felony warrant was issued for the defendant’s arrest on February 15, 2022, and he filed a motion to vacate the warrant.

The court did not issue any orders at this time, but recalled the arrest warrant.

The court left the bail amount set, allowing the following conditions to be imposed:

Do not drive a motor vehicle unless you have a valid driver’s license and are insured
Obey all laws
He will not possess or have under his control any alcoholic beverage and will not enter any public place where the principal item sold or dispensed is an alcoholic beverage. The defendant will refrain from consuming alcoholic beverages.

The defendant is charged with seven counts of drunk driving (alcohol causing injury) and three counts of driving under the influence.

The charges stem from an incident in July 2021 in which Williams was driving west on Highway 20 near Sulfur Bank Drive at an alleged high rate of speed and collided with the vehicle in front of him.

According to the CHP, both vehicles crossed into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with other vehicles.

As a result of the collision, the defendant suffered serious injuries and was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Clear Lake CHP officers noticed symptoms and signs of alcohol intoxication and made an arrest.

Three other people were airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center, one with serious injuries and three others suffered minor injuries.