XPost: oc.general, alt.california.illegals, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.politics.republicans   
   From: murderers@latimes.com   
      
   A woman charged with murder and driving under the influence in a   
   March 29 crash that killed three Las Vegas teenagers in   
   Huntington Beach had been arrested two years earlier on   
   suspicion of DUI, but because of a processing error the case   
   never got to prosecutors, authorities say.   
      
   Bani Duarte, 27, was arrested in San Clemente on June 22, 2016,   
   on suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence. A   
   deputy alleged he found her behind the wheel of an SUV illegally   
   parked across multiple spaces at a Circle K convenience store,   
   according to an Orange County Sheriff's Department investigation   
   report.   
      
   However, the Sheriff's Department inadvertently did not send its   
   report detailing the incident to the Orange County district   
   attorney's office for possible charges, department spokesman Ray   
   Grangoff said Wednesday.   
      
   Typically, the district attorney's office reviews police   
   investigation reports to determine whether and what type of   
   charges should be filed in a case.   
      
   A misdemeanor DUI conviction can result in a maximum sentence of   
   six months in jail, along with fines, according to prosecutors.   
      
   The deputy who arrested Duarte alleged in his report, released   
   Tuesday, that she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17% and showed   
   signs of intoxication during a field sobriety test.   
      
   He also reported that an empty beer bottle and a glass water   
   bottle that had been filled with vodka were found in the car.   
   Duarte told the deputy that the alcohol belonged to her   
   passenger, according to the report.   
      
   She was booked at the Sheriff's Department jail, received a   
   citation and was released, Grangoff said.   
      
   Grangoff said the agency discovered the processing misstep early   
   last month and launched an internal audit to determine how the   
   case was forgotten. The review of documents from 2016 to this   
   year found no other cases that were missed, he said.   
      
   "One of the results of the audit is now we're immediately   
   sending reports over to the court system," Grangoff said. "The   
   importance of sending that over immediately has been emphasized   
   with staff."   
      
   Duarte's driver's license, which was suspended after her 2016   
   arrest, was reinstated in June 2017, according to the Sheriff's   
   Department report.   
      
   Duarte, a San Clemente resident, faces three counts of murder   
   and one count of driving under the influence causing injury, as   
   well as a possible sentencing enhancement on allegations of   
   inflicting great bodily injury, in connection with the March 29   
   crash in Huntington Beach. She has pleaded not guilty to all   
   charges, according to Orange County Superior Court records.   
      
   If convicted, she could be sentenced to 51 years to life in   
   state prison, according to prosecutors.   
      
   Duarte's defense attorney, Debra White, did not respond to a   
   request for comment Wednesday.   
      
   Huntington Beach police allege in a document attached to an   
   arrest warrant that Duarte's blood-alcohol level an hour after   
   the crash was 0.28% — more than three times the legal limit.   
      
   Officers found a "partially empty" 1-ounce bottle of vodka in   
   Duarte's purse, authorities wrote, and her Hyundai Sonata   
   contained an empty 24-ounce can of a malt beverage that its   
   manufacturer says has 8% alcohol content.   
      
   Duarte, a single mother of four children, told officers she had   
   gone out for sushi with a friend and then stopped at the Stag   
   Bar + Kitchen and Baja Sharkeez on the Balboa Peninsula in   
   Newport Beach, where she had a total of two vodka sodas and one   
   gelatin shot, according to law enforcement reports.   
      
   "After leaving Sharkeez, Duarte believed … she was driving   
   southbound on Pacific Coast Highway toward her home in San   
   Clemente," Huntington Beach police Investigator Josh Page wrote.   
   "Duarte did not have any recollection of striking any curbs,   
   stopping on PCH, being talked to by witnesses or colliding with   
   the victims in this incident."   
      
   A witness who was driving with friends near the Hyundai in   
   Newport Beach told authorities that he watched the car swerve   
   and strike a curb after making a left turn onto West Coast   
   Highway, Page wrote.   
      
   The witness, who was not identified, said the Hyundai driver   
   parked just past Prospect Street and got out. The men offered   
   her a ride because they "believed she was impaired," but she   
   turned them down, got back in her car and drove toward   
   Huntington Beach, Page wrote.   
      
   The men called police and followed the Hyundai until it crashed   
   into a Toyota shortly after 1 a.m. at the intersection of   
   Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street. The Hyundai was   
   traveling at 79 mph when it slammed into the back of the Toyota,   
   which was stopped at a red light, Page wrote.   
      
   The impact pushed the Toyota through the intersection and into a   
   pole, and it burst into flames. Three teenagers inside were   
   killed. They were identified as Brooke Hawley, 17, Dylan Mack,   
   18, and A.J. Rossi, 17, all of whom were visiting Southern   
   California from Las Vegas for spring break.   
      
   Alexis Vargas, a fourth teenager in the Toyota, survived the   
   crash and was taken to a hospital for treatment, authorities   
   said.   
      
   Duarte, who is listed in jail records as a receptionist, was   
   initially arrested after the crash on suspicion of driving under   
   the influence and gross vehicular manslaughter and posted   
   $100,000 bail three days later.   
      
   Investigators said they arrested Duarte again April 29 in Downey   
   on a warrant after they received information that she may have   
   intended to flee the country to avoid prosecution. It isn't   
   clear what information led to that conclusion.   
      
   She is being held in Orange County Jail in Santa Ana with bail   
   set at $4 million.   
      
   hannah.fry@latimes.com   
      
   Twitter: @HannahFryTCN   
      
   http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-duarte-   
   update-20180510-story.html   
      
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