Point Reyes Light - September 9, 1999
Lagunitas woman jailed in death of cyclist on Moon Hill
A Lagunitas woman jailed on charges of felony gross vehicular manslaughter in the death of a bicyclist last Saturday on Moon Hill withdrew her day-old "not guilty" plea Wednesday in Superior Court.
Michele M. Young, 49, through her attorney chose instead to demur the plea - that is, challenge the charges brought against her - and was also granted a request to have her $250,000 bail reduced.
A day earlier, when she was arraigned, her attorney Roger Hurt opted not to have pleas entered yet on her two other felony charges: injuring someone while under the influence of alcohol and child endangerment.
Highway Patrol officers reported that:
Young was driving her 1983 Jeep Grand Wagoneer north on Nicasio Valley Road around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, when her vehicle went out of the lines and crushed San Anselmo bicyclist Cecelia "Cecy" Krone, 42, against a rock embankment, "shattering the bicycle and inflicting major traumatic injuries."
Ms. Krone, an occupational therapist, was airlifted to John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, and was pronounced dead from her injuries shortly after 3 p.m.
Prosecutors charged Young with child endangerment because her 10-year old son John was riding with her in the vehicle at the time.
Fred Lengyel of San Anselmo, a friend of Cecy Krone, was riding behind her when the accident occurred. Lengyel said Wednesday that roughly 30 cyclists were in their group, and they were spread out pedaling north on Nicasio Valley Road.
He explained that Krone was a strong rider, but not as strong as some of the younger riders, and she had proceeded uphill to the front of the pack to get a jump on some of the younger athletes in the group.
Lengyel said he heard another cyclist call from behind that a car was approaching. Then he heard what he called "angry honking."
"We all tried to get over" to the side, he told The Light. "The impact was just out of earshot, and when I arrived at the scene, her rear wheel was in the center of the road. There were pieces of bike everywhere, and her helmet was obliterated."
Moments later, Lengyel said, he noticed that the driver of the Jeep had stopped a few hundred yards down the road, and "looked stunned" as she approached the scene. "She went to look at Cecy, and almost stepped on her because she didn't have any balance. I noticed that she really smelled of alcohol," he recalled.
Lengyel said some of the group said that Young told them she had consumed three Bloody Mary cocktails earlier in the morning and was on her way to Clear Lake for the weekend. (The Light could not confirm this independently).
Young failed a series of roadside sobriety tests, and was taken into custody and booked at Marin County Jail.
At her arraignment on Tuesday before Commissioner Harvey Goldfine, attorney Hurt entered a plea of "not guilty" to the gross felony manslaughter charge, and declined to enter pleas on the two remaining charges.
When Hurt asked that the court consider releasing Young into an alcohol recovery program at Serenity Knolls in Forest Knolls, Goldfine demanded that Young appear before Judge Peter A. Smith on Wednesday. Goldfine retained Young's bail at the previously set amount of $250,000.
Present at Tuesday's proceedings was a group of approximately 25 of Krone's friends and family, including Lengyel. Outside the courtroom, some members of the group engaged in lively discussion with attorney Hurt, and expressed their displeasure with the motion to release Young to Serenity Knolls.
On Wednesday, before Judge Peter Smith, Hurt motioned to demur the "not guilty" plea on behalf of Young, and submitted a letter to the court acknowledging that she had been accepted into a program at Serenity Knolls that would last "a minimum of six months and maybe a year," he said.
He argued that Young was "not a flight risk," and gave examples of three cases in which similar offenders were rehabilitated at the West Marin facility.
Hurt told Judge Smith that he believed that Young needed immediate treatment, which was being denied because she was in "lockdown" as a result of her elevated bail status.
He also expressed anger over the release of preliminary test results which suggested that Young's blood alcohol content was nearly three times the legal limit. "Those results are inadmissible in court," he said, "and there is still no blood test result."
Public prosecutor Barry Borden referred to Young as "out of control", and reminded the court that she is facing charges that could bring a sentence of 15 years to life. Smith declined to release Young, but granted the motion to demur the plea and reduced her bail to $75,000.
The decision prompted moans of disapproval from Krone supporters in the courtroom, most of whom had returned from the Tuesday proceedings. Prosecutor Borden was given until Monday to prepare a response to Hurt's demur.
After the hearing, Lengyel said he was pleased that Young was not released for treatment. He stated that he felt that Young, who was previously convicted of DUI in 1993, was a hazard to riders and drivers.
"We expected that this would be a cut and dry case," he said. "It wasn't that much of a surprise that she pleaded 'not guilty.' But she's a public hazard. It was unjust in asking that she go to a treatment facility without lock-down."
Cecy Krone's mother, Adeline Krone, remembered her daughter outside the courtroom on Wednesday. "It has been said that she was feisty, and she was," Mrs. Krone said. "And she was also very sweet, and very nice."
CHP officer Marcus Bartholomew said that officers would be gathering information today at the scene, and would follow up with witnesses to collect additional information in the next one to two weeks.
"The results of the blood test will probably take a week or more," he added. "In fatality cases, after the alcohol screening, the sample is sent out for drug testing."
Friends of Cecy Krone have planned a memorial bicycle ride for her this Saturday starting at 9 a.m. at San Anselmo Coffee Roasters. The ride will proceed to Roy's Redwoods for a memorial service at 10 a.m.
Riders are expected from as far away as Washington state, and all cyclists have been encouraged to participate.