Ex-Marine Faces Manslaughter Charge in Crash

From City News Service:

Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in the trial of a former Marine charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in connection with a high-speed vehicle crash that killed a friend and injured two other people.

CNS reports Andrew Stueber, 27, on Tuesday rejected a plea offer from Orange County Superior Court Judge James Rogan that defense attorney Rob Harley said would have meant a maximum of six years behind bars.

Steuber faces a 12-year term if convicted at trial. Stueber was stationed at Camp Pendleton when he crashed a Ford Mustang in the early hours of the morning in summer of 2009, killing passenger 22-year-old Edmund Vandecasteele and injuring passengers Robert Nichols, who was 22, and Kyle Nance, who was 21, prosecutors said.

Stueber allegedly was driving on Avenida Vista Montana in San Clemente at twice the 35-mph speed limit when he lost control of the car, veered across the street and slammed into a tree with such force it split the vehicle in half.