Fresno widow hopes for justice in DUI trial

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's been three years since a crash in which a Fresno woman is suspected of killing a man while driving drunk. Now the case is headed to trial.

Frank Winslow, 54, died in the 2011 rollover crash. 27-year old Perla Vazquez is accused of ramming her car into his jeep on Highway 168 before driving away.

Vazquez only looked up to wipe tears from her face on the first day of her trial. A stark difference from the night she was arrested in October of 2011, when she was passed out in the back of a police car with a BAC level more than twice the legal limit.

"She committed an act of indifference. But she did not commit an act of murder. Let me repeat myself. She did not commit an act of murder," said defense attorney Alan Deocampo.

She's accused of driving drunk and pushing Frank Winslow's jeep off the highway, into an embankment. The night of the crash, she had a suspended license for a prior DUI conviction and had other DUI related incidents on her record.

District attorney Steve Wright says Vazquez signed a warning document as part of a plea bargain for a previous DUI. "She was told drinking and driving is dangerous you can kill. If you continue to drink and drive and somebody dies, you could be charged with murder," said Wright.

Nancy Winslow is the victim's wife. She says she'll be in court every day to ensure justice is served in the memory of her late husband.

"It is a violent crime. you know. When people say drunk driving accidents, they are not accidents. They are incidents but they are not accidents," said Winslow.

The prosecution is seeking a murder conviction. But the defense is pulling for vehicular manslaughter which would give Vazquez a lighter sentence.