Home>Articles>Fatal Hit And Run Penalty Increase Bill Approved By Assm. Public Safety Committee

Assemblyman Jim Patterson. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for California Globe)

Fatal Hit And Run Penalty Increase Bill Approved By Assm. Public Safety Committee

2021 marks the third year in a row that ‘Gavin’s Law’ has appeared before the Assembly

By Evan Symon, April 9, 2021 2:40 am

For the third time in three years, a bill that would broaden the definition of hit-and-run incidents and increase prison sentences for those causing fatalities passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

Assembly Bill 582, authored by Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R–Fresno), would increase the scope of hit-and-runs to include penalties for not immediately stopping after an incident, and expands the maximum prison sentence for fatalities from 4 years to 6 years. Drivers who hit-and-run while drunk will also face an additional penalty.

AB 582 is also known as “Gavin’s Law,” named by Patterson for Clovis resident and vice principal Gavin Gladding. Gladding was struck and killed in 2018 by 19-year-old Rogelio Alvarez Maravilla, who was driving a truck. Maravilla subsequently fled, but turned himself in 5 days later after extensive media coverage and an expanding investigation by police. Despite overwhelming evidence, Maravilla was given 14 months in jail.

The story peaked the interest of Assemblyman Patterson and he has tried repeatedly to pass the bill. However, his attempts in 2019 and 2020 fizzled out despite bipartisan support due to a wide variety of factors including a focus on COVID-19 related bills last year.

This year, AB 582 continues to have sizable support, as evidenced by lawmakers passing the bill in committee earlier this week 7-1, as well as police and anti-drunk driving groups continuing to back the bill.

“Gavin’s Law was approved in the Assembly Public Safety Committee with overwhelming support,” said Assemblyman Patterson in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “We’re beginning this long journey again and may still face some obstacles. But with testimony from families like the Gladdings and the Oseguedas, we have reason to be optimistic.”

On Thursday, he added in another post “Why do we need Gavin’s Law? Because there is an imbalance of justice in the law. Because it’s time for California to care more about the victims and the families they leave behind than the criminals who don’t have the human decency to stay.”

Those who have lost family members and friends to hit and runs have been the most vocal supporters of the bill, and through impassioned speeches in front of committees, have even won over lawmakers who generally oppose giving higher jail sentences to criminals.

“It can be a hard thing for getting people to see it from your point of view,” explained Christa West, who lost her brother to a hit and run incident in 2012, to the Globe. “Not many people know the kind of sudden loss you went through. Widowers understand, and those killed in various other collisions, like drunk driving, do too. No one really knows what that loss feels like except those who have gone through it.”

“That California bill, the people they’re choosing to talk about it and asking for tougher sentences, it’s really convincing and paints a vivid picture. Not many people can illustrate it that well. Hopefully it effects enough people.”

No known opposition has been formed against the bill as of Thursday.

AB 582 is expected to be heard next in the Assembly Appropriations Committee later this month.

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5 thoughts on “Fatal Hit And Run Penalty Increase Bill Approved By Assm. Public Safety Committee

  1. This is a needed bill.
    Recently in my small area we have had 2 hit and run fatalities. I want justice for the victims and their families.
    The perpetrators have no conscience or value for another’s life. I am not sure if it will prevent this horrible act but it will hold them accountable if they are ever caught.

  2. Great law…

    Needs new marketing however…call it Gladding’s Law, because “Gavin” has been forever poisoned in California…

    My sincere condolences to the family(ies) affected by the heartless, selfish carelessness of other irresponsible drivers…

  3. I am also very glad to see this. Victim’s families need it. And to echo Cali Girl, we all want and need justice for victims and their families. Grateful for Asm Patterson’s persistence.

  4. Look up the latest hit and run in Los Angeles a few days ago. I am still having flash backs from the video. I have a bad feeling this has become some sort of sick new game for demonic lowlifes. This bill is definitely needed.

  5. My son was killed in 2018 by a hit and run driver. He did turn himself in four days later. He admitted to being drunk. But, because the investigators did not have the proof they could not charge him with D.U.I. causing a fatality. And the guy had a prior felony hit & run with property damage. This guy was sentenced to 3 1/2 years with 85% time served for good behavior. And if entered into the V.E.T. program and completed it he would be released early. He served 8 1/2 months. That was a hit to my gut again knocked the air right out of me. I have lost everything I ever owned due to this guy’s bad decision to drive intoxicated. I am being forced to live a life I am unfamiliar with. My family of 6 has become 1. My job of 15 years is history because of the similarities in the accidents that remind me of my son’s that took his life. I was a dispatcher for a towing company and for legal matters I was forced to resign my position due to evidence purposes. I suffer from many mental health issues now. It’s been 4 years of pure hell for me. And the guy that is responsible for all of this…what?????? He did 8 1/2 months and he can just pick up where he left off with no worries in the world. While I’m struggling. I lost my house my car my family. My job. How can I begin to heal? I have no family to turn to. This guy made a choice and he obviously has priors. What he got was a slap on the wrist. I don’t know where this is going to take me but it is definitely not a life I ever dreamed of living. Nor is it the kind of life that I ever wanted for myself. Tell me how is this fair?? It’s not.

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