Retrial in Westminster crash that left friend dead in street goes to jury this week
The fate of a man accused of leaving his friend to die in the street after crashing in Westminster while driving drunk will soon once again be in the hands of a jury.
Deliberations are expected to begin Wednesday in the re-trial of Jonathan Samoff, 30, who is facing a second-degree murder charge related to the death of 25-year-old Isaias Tang Jr., a friend who Samoff met at a sober living home that Samoff was kicked out of hours before the March 2014 crash.
An Orange County Superior Court jury earlier this year deadlocked 11-1 in favor of Samoff’s guilt, leading to a mistrial.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Feldman during his closing arguments Tuesday in a Santa Ana courtroom questioned Samoff’s testimony that he did not remember the details of the crash and hadn’t consumed alcohol until after it occurred.
“He is not the victim,” Feldman said of Samoff. “Mr. Samoff killed Mr. Tang. We are not here to determine if he feels bad about it.”
Closing arguments by Samoff’s attorney, Eugene Sung, are scheduled for Wednesday morning. In Samoff’s earlier trial, Sung described Tang’s death as a tragic accident, not a murder.
According to prosecutors, Samoff was driving a friend’s Toyota Camry more than 70 mph in a portion of Magnolia Street near Westminster Boulevard with a 45 mph speed limit when he lost control, at which point the vehicle slid, flipped over a curb, struck a retaining wall and came to rest against a light pole.
DNA from blood samples in the vehicle placed Samoff in the driver’s seat and Tang in the front passenger’s seat, according to prosecutors. Immediately after the crash, prosecutors allege, Samoff ran around the car, pulled Tang from the vehicle and then fled the scene.
Hours earlier, Samoff had been kicked out of the Anaheim sober living home where he and Tang had been living. Around 2 a.m., the pair stopped by the home of a family member of Tang’s, who pleaded with Tang not to drive, leading Samoff to say that he was the designated driver, according to prosecutors.
Samoff went to a family member’s home before being taken to a hospital for a facial wound. According to prosecutors, based on tests taken at the hospital, Samoff is suspected of having a blood alcohol content of nearly twice the legal limit for driving at the time of the crash.
In 2009, Samoff had been convicted of misdemeanor DUI in Los Angeles. As part of his plea, Samoff was required to acknowledge that if he drove drunk again and it resulted in someone’s death, he could be charged with murder, as opposed to a lesser charge of vehicular manslaughter.