Man who led deadly wrong-way freeway chase sentenced to 48 years to life

NEWS SERVICES

1:49 p.m. January 8, 2004

SAN DIEGO – A parolee who sped away from police and drove the wrong way on a freeway, causing a crash that killed a father and seriously injured his namesake 9-year-old, was sentenced today to 48 years to life in prison.

Robert Degracia, 36, was convicted last Sept. 10 of second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

The early morning crash on Aug. 19, 2002 took the life of William Boyle and injured "Billy" Boyle Jr.

Superior Court Judge William Kennedy rejected arguments that Degracia's 13- year methamphetamine addiction caused him to act irresponsibly, sending his life out of control.

The judge said when a man with Degracia's criminal past – which dates back to 1987 – decides to drive a car under the influence of drugs, he is committing a felony that is dangerous to human life.

Kennedy reminded Degracia's counsel that a CHP officer testified that the adult victim saw the defendant's car coming toward him and made a split-second decision to take Degracia's car head-on, saving his son's life.

"You can't take the humanity out of it," the judge said. "This was the ultimate sacrifice."

Deputy District Attorney Sophia Roach said Degracia was a convicted drug dealer who failed on seven grants of probation and had been to prison twice.

Miguel Degracia said his older brother wasn't a murderer or a bad person, just someone hooked on methamphetamine.

"He needs help, medically, from his addiction," Miguel Degracia said.

But one of Boyle's grown daughters, Christine Cooper, said her father's death has greatly affected her family.

"I wonder, who's going to teach my brother to be a man?" Cooper asked. "Will my brother truly remember what happened that night?"

Degracia apologized to the victim's family, calling the crash an "unfortunate accident."

"I never meant to hurt anyone," the defendant said. "I'm truly sorry. No words can explain how much pain I caused your family."

Degracia was weaving in and out of traffic and failed to yield about 12:30 a.m. that day when CHP officers tried to pull him over on suspicion of DUI.

Officers went after him but backed off minutes later when Degracia, who had been driving in excess of 90 mph, went north on southbound Highway 163, near Genesee.

The defendant continued to drive in the wrong direction for about a mile before trying to turn onto a connector from westbound Interstate 8, where his 2002 Ford Taurus smashed into Boyle's 1982 Honda Accord.

William Boyle Jr., now 10, suffered abdominal, leg and wrist injuries, and lost some teeth.

In a letter to the court, the boy said his father's death means his mother cries all the time and "I don't have a big guy by my side any more."