Man convicted of second-degree murder for Westminster crash that left friend dead

A 31-year-old man was convicted of second-degree murder for a 2014 Westminster crash in which he was accused of getting kicked out of a rehab facility the day before, driving drunk, crashing and leaving his buddy who died.

Earlier this year an Orange County Superior Court jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of Jonathan Samoff’s guilt, leading to the second trial.

Court officials said Samoff was expected to be sentenced in February.

According to prosecutors, Samoff was driving a Toyota Camry with his friend and passenger 25-year-old Isaias Tang Jr.

The car was traveling 70-plus mph in a 45-mph speed-limit zone on Magnolia Street near Westminster Boulevard when Samoff lost control – the car slid and flipped over a curb hitting a retaining wall.

The day before, Samoff had been kicked out of a sober-living home in Anaheim for violating rules. The two had became friends at the facility.

Prosecutors alleged that immediately after the crash Samoff ran around the car, pulled Tang from the vehicle and then fled the scene. Samoff went to Nebraska after the crash.

Westminster police were tipped to his location, and with the aid of the Omaha Police Department, tracked him down.

During his closing arguments Tuesday in a Santa Ana courtroom, Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Feldman questioned Samoff’s testimony that he could not recall details of the crash and hadn’t consumed alcohol until after it happened.

In Samoff’s earlier trial, his attorney, Eugene Sung, described Tang’s death as an accident, not murder, adding that Tang died instantly.

Years earlier, Samoff was convicted of misdemeanor DUI in Los Angeles. As part of his plea, he was required to acknowledge that if he drove drunk again and it ended in someone’s death, he could be charged with murder instead of a lesser manslaughter charge.