2013

On October 1, 2013, an El Dorado County jury seated in South Lake Tahoe found Larry Lee Halverson guilty of gross negligence vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run causing injury. The jury heard testimony that on September 4, 2011, Mr. Halverson’s driver’s license was suspended for DUI, and he was under the influence while driving a Nissan Pathfinder on Ski Run Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe. The vehicle driven by Mr. Halverson struck and killed a pedestrian crossing the boulevard. The victim was a 51-year-old South Lake Tahoe resident who 31 days later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead in a Reno, Nevada hospital.

Chief Assistant Bill Clark and Deputy District Attorney Katie Dobler prepared the case for trial, presented the evidence to the jury, and examined the witnesses which led to a guilty verdict.

Mr. Halverson had eight prior driving the influence convictions leading up to this most recent conviction and faces sentencing under the 1996 amendment to Gross Negligence Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated known as “Courtney’s Law”. This law provides for a 15 year to life sentence for habitual offenders with qualifying driving under the influence convictions. Mr. Halverson is scheduled to be sentenced November 1, 2013, and is currently being held without bail in the El Dorado County jail.

District Attorney Vern Pierson commented, “These types of habitual offenders threaten the safety and well-being of our community and my office will prosecute these offenders to the fullest extent of the law”. The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office has obtained an Office of Traffic Safety Grant which provides for a Vertical Prosecution Team. Mr. Pierson intends on using the Vertical Prosecution Team to “aggressively pursue and prosecute multiple DUI offenders”.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.