Lake Arrowhead resident Joshua Adam Navarro, 25, had a disposition/reset hearing on Tuesday at 8:33 a.m. but it was delayed until January 20. He faces murder charges related to a Highway 138 head-on crash on May 17 near Phelan. (File Photo)
By G.T. Houts
UPDATE: Tuesday, December 15 – 3 p.m.
San Bernardino, CA – There’s been another delay in the murder trial of Joshua Adam Navarro, 25, from Lake Arrowhead. A disposition/reset hearing — related to the fatal head-on collision on Highway 138 near Phelan that killed his 18-year-old passenger on May 17 — has been rescheduled to January 20, 2016 at 8:35 a.m.
The reason for the delay was not stated in minutes from the December 15 hearing before Judge Richard Peel.
ORIGINAL STORY
San Bernardino, CA – Joshua Adam Navarro, 25, from Lake Arrowhead has a disposition/reset hearing in San Bernardino County Superior Court on Tuesday, December 15, related to the fatal head-on collision on Highway 138 near Phelan that killed his 18-year-old passenger. The hearing is scheduled for 8:33 a.m. in Department S-17.
The crash — which killed Eliza Santibanez, of Highland, when she was ejected from Navarro’s black 1997 Honda Civic — on Sunday, May 17, sent Navarro and three others to area hospitals with critical injuries.
CHARGED WITH MURDER
Navarro, who had two previous convictions for driving under the influence (January 2009 and July 2012), is facing the murder charge, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and two counts of DUI alcohol/drugs causing bodily injury.
On May 29, the suspect entered a plea of not guilty to all counts and denied special allegations.
Bail has been set at $1.5 million and Navarro is in custody at the West Valley Detention Center.
LAST COURT APPEARANCE
On November 18, Navarro appeared before Judge Richard V. Peel who established the disposition/reset hearing for December 15.
Navarro is represented by Deputy Public Defender Lee Sonnenberg and is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Enrique Guerrero.
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