GUILTY PLEA: Drunk Driver Admits Charges in Crash That Killed Temecula Golfer

A drunken driver, who ran a red light at 75 mph, killing a Temecula golf instructor in a side-impact collision, pleaded guilty Thursday to gross vehicular manslaughter and other charges.

Joseph Triplett III, 31, could face up to 14 years in prison for killing 27-year-old Jason Duane Hart in a June 24, 2012, predawn crash. He remains in custody without bail pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Aug. 29.

During a pretrial hearing at the Southwest Justice Center, the prosecution and defense informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer that a plea agreement had been reached in the case.

The District Attorney's Office dropped a second-degree murder count in exchange for Triplett's plea to the manslaughter count -- with a DUI enhancement -- and a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, which in this case was his 1996 Ford Mustang.

Freer referred the matter to the Department of Probation, directing the agency to come up with an appropriate sentencing range based on the circumstances. The maximum would be 14 years, prosecutors said.

According to sheriff's investigators, Triplett had a blood-alcohol level of .33 -- more than four times over the legal limit to operate a vehicle under California law -- when he plowed through a red light at Rancho California and Moraga roads.

Hart was on his way to work, headed north on Moraga, when Triplett, going east, slammed into the passenger side of the victim's Subaru Impreza.

A sheriff's deputy who helped Triplett out of his vehicle moments later said the defendant reeked of alcohol. He'd been drinking at home and went out to purchase cigarettes. He was returning to his residence, less than a mile away, when he broadsided Hart's car, according to Deputy District Attorney David Tahan.

Hart was transported to Inland Valley Regional Medical Center in Wildomar, where he was pronounced dead on arrival of massive internal injuries and head trauma.

Triplett escaped with minor injuries. He reportedly told a nurse that he had consumed several mixed drinks before getting behind the wheel.

Hart was a semi-pro golfer who had recently married and just begun work as the operations manager for Cross Creek Golf Club in Temecula.

According to court records, Triplett was convicted in 2009 of misdemeanor DUI and was sentenced to probation. He was also convicted in 2003 of receiving stolen property.

– City News Service.