OAKLAND — A Bay Area man has been ordered to stand trial on a charge of murder for allegedly running over a 52-year-old cyclist in 2020, court records show.
Ric Acosta, 40, was driving a white Mercedes erratically through traffic on Hesperian Boulevard in San Leandro when he allegedly struck and killed Mark Lee Moore. Prosecutors contend that Acosta ran over Moore on purpose, then sped off.
Acosta’s attorney, however, called it a “terrible tragedy” that was Acosta’s fault, but denied it warrants a murder charge.
Acosta’s October preliminary hearing saw just two witnesses: a woman who witnessed the collision from another vehicle, and a man who was in the Mercedes with Acosta and testified Acosta announced his intentions of running down the cyclist. The passenger also admitted he was high on methamphetamine throughout the day.
Acosta pleaded not guilty in November and is next due in court Thursday for a disposition and setting hearing, records show.
At the October hearing, Jonard Maya, speaking through a Tagalog translator, testified that he and Acosta left the Hesperian Trailer Park headed toward a hardware store when they noticed Moore on a bicycle. Maya was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.
“(Acosta) told me he was going to run him over…I told him no,” Maya testified, adding that he estimated the collision impact at 40 to 50 miles per hour. He claimed that Acosta then demanded Maya grab Moore’s bike, but that Maya refused, and briefly exited to vehicle to see if Moore was OK before they both left. He said Acosta tried to run Moore over a second time, but that Maya grabbed the steering wheel and prevented this.
Maya denied seeing Moore before, or seeing any interaction between the two that could suggest why Acosta would want to run Moore over.
But a nearby motorist who saw the whole thing, testified Acosta’s vehicle was speeding through traffic, weaving between lanes, and nearly hit her car at one point. She testified that no one exited the car and after the collision and that the Mercedes stopped briefly before continuing along Hesperian Boulevard.
Deputy Public Defender Madeline Zepeda, who represents Acosta, said that Maya’s “dishonest” testimony should not justify a murder charge and asked that Acosta be charged with gross vehicular manslaughter instead.
“Mr. Acosta, is so deeply sorry for the mistakes he made that day, including leaving the scene after the collision happened,” Zepeda said. “What happened that day was an accident. Mr. Acosta did not intend to hit and kill Mr. Moore but his unsafe and irresponsible driving resulted in just that.”
Judge Jon Rolefson agreed there were “credibility” issues with witnesses, but said that his job is simply to determine if a jury should decide the allegations or not. The legal standard to advance cases past a preliminary hearing state is probable cause, much less than what is required for juries to convict someone of a crime.
“I think that there’s enough to have a jury decide. In other words, there is probable cause,” Rolefson said.
Source: www.mercurynews.com