Suspected drunk driver will stand trial in death of two people in Alpine

An alleged drunken driver accused in the deaths of two
people in a freeway crash near Alpine last year must stand trial on charges of
gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing death, a judge
ruled on Tuesday.

Sunny Hall, 31, faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted, said Deputy
District Attorney Douglas Rose.

Following a daylong preliminary hearing, El Cajon Superior Court Judge
Patricia Cookson ruled that enough evidence was presented for Hall to proceed
to trial.

Hall — who remains free after posting $350,000 bail — will be back in
court Sept. 4 for arraignment.

A deadly series of crashes that culminated with the double fatality
began shortly before 3 a.m. on June 11, 2012, when 25-year-old Angela August
lost control of her eastbound 2009 Toyota Yaris for unknown reasons on
Interstate 8, just west of Tavern Road, according to the California Highway
Patrol.

The compact went up a roadside embankment, then overturned and rolled
several times before coming to rest across the far left-hand lane of the
freeway, with August pinned inside.

A short time later, 59 year-old Jimmy Arevalo of El Centro pulled his
Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck in front of August's car and was standing
alongside the damaged Yaris, talking to the CHP on his cell phone, when Hall's
eastbound 2003 Audi A6 plowed into the overturned car and Arevalo, according to
Rose.

August, an Alpine resident, and Arevalo died at the scene, and Hall was
arrested. Her blood-alcohol level was measured at .15 percent after the
accident, nearly double the legal limit for driving, according to the
prosecutor.