Woman accused of killing a former Merced County Commissioner in DUI crash now facing trial

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- Jacquline Calixtro, the woman accused of crashing a car, while allegedly driving under the influence, and killing a former Merced County Commissioner, stood in front of a judge on Tuesday.

Calixtro was at the courthouse for her preliminary hearing and faces charges after she allegedly killed Ralph Cook on June 8th of 2016.

Inside the courtroom several witnesses took the stand, one who says he witnessed the collision.

The witness said he was driving on the southbound lanes of Highway 99 that same day. He stated that a Mercedes "flew past me." He then stated it sharply cut in front of him and went into the shoulder and said he did not know it hit the guardrail until he returned to the scene to help.

When asked if she seemed under the influence, or smelled like alcohol, he said she didn't.

Several officers with the California Highway Patrol also testified, including one who says he performed sobriety tests on Calixtro at the scene.

Reports show Calixtro had some drinks at Kewl Kats in Merced before Cook met up with her. Cook later became a victim of an assault, she was told not to drive to the Modesto Hospital by police.

Those reports also show that after leaving the bar with a sober driver, Calixtro allegedly disregarded police, and drove up to Modesto to pick up Cook.

The officer said Calixtro passed some of the tests, but she still seemed impaired. The defense argued some of the signs, including red watery eyes, could have been from stress of tears.

Calixtro's hearing ended with her attorney calling the crash a "freak accident" and asking for the felonies to be downgraded to misdemeanors. However, the judge disagreed-- moving the case to trial, and keeping the charges as felonies

The first day of Calixtro's trial will be April 4th.