Note: This story was edited Aug. 8 to add comments from the deceased’s mother.
A jury convicted a fentanyl dealer of involuntary manslaughter Aug. 7, deciding against the prosecutor’s arguments that he should be convicted of murder.
Bryan Anaya-Esquivel was charged with murder after a 17-year-old he had sold fentanyl-laden Percocets fatally overdosed from the pills.
The San Bernardino District Attorney’s Office was hoping to establish precedent to convict fentanyl dealers for murder instead of drug sales or involuntary manslaughter.
When reached by phone, DA spokesperson Jacquelyn Rodriguez said that the result was not what they hoped for, but that the office was grateful to the jury and the victim’s family for seeing the case through trial and raising awareness of the dangers of fentanyl.
To find Anaya-Esquivel guilty of involuntary manslaughter, the jury first had to decide to acquit him of murder, according to jury instructions heard prior to closing arguments.
Prosecutor Deborah Ploghaus had directed the jury to acquit if they did not find a murder charge.
“It’s not an involuntary manslaughter case,” Ploghaus had said during closing argument.
“Every time a person sells fentanyl, they are taking a gamble of a person’s life,” she had said.
Deputy Public Defender Anthony Kimbirk had said that a murder conviction would reach beyond the law.
“(The prosecutor’s) interpretation of the law, it doesn’t make sense,” he said in closing argument.
“It’s only a sales case. There are consequences for that sale. But those consequences aren’t murder,” Kimbirk said.
The deceased’s mother, Melissa Grace Dredd, said that she was worried the sentence for a manslaughter conviction would not be enough to rehabilitate Anaya-Esquivel or deter other dealers from selling fentanyl.
“I pray that (Anaya-Esquivel) doesn’t go back. I pray that no other parent will have to go through a death to make him stop,” Dredd said.
Dredd said she is concerned with the lack of knowledge people have about fentanyl. Teenage users often don’t know they are addicted, she said. Doctors were unable to diagnose her son as having fentanyl withdrawal issues. She was not sure how to go about talking with her son about his drug use.
Dredd encouraged people to inform themselves about the dangers of fentanyl, and to know that they can get off the drug if they go through a medical plan arranged by their doctor.
Dredd is partnering with San Bernardino County’s Act Now program to spread awareness of fentanyl to schools and businesses.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 5.
The Placer County District Attorney’s Office announced they had secured the first murder conviction against a fentanyl dealer July 7. A legislative effort to inform drug dealers that they could be found guilty of murder if their clients overdose failed to pass the Senate Public Safety Committee in April.
If passed, the bill would have required a court to tell defendants who plead guilty to drug sales that they could face murder charges for fentanyl sales.
Rosilicie Ochoa-Bogh (R-Redlands) and Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) authored the bill.
“I am certain there is no justice in allowing willful negligence by drug dealers or a lack of action on the part of the Legislature to result in murder and a continually escalating death toll caused by fentanyl poisonings,” Umberg had written in support of the bill.
It had gained support from five district attorney offices, including those in San Bernardino and Riverside. It was also supported by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, Riverside County Supervisor Karen Spiegel, the Riverside Police Officers Association, the Riverside Sheriff’s Association and Yucaipa.
American Civil Liberties Union California Action, the California Public Defenders Association and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights opposed the bill.
The movement to charge fentanyl dealers with murder is similar to a past movement in California to charge certain drunken drivers with murder. Since 2004, drunken drivers had been advised that they could be charged with murder if they continue to drink and drive, and if their crime results in death. Although that notice was codified in 2004, precedent was set to charge drunken drivers with the crime in 1981. The attempt to create this warning was explicitly based off of the 2004 statute.
A second prosecution in San Bernardino against a fentanyl dealer whose client had overdosed is ongoing. Alfred Urrea is also charged with one count of murder. A disposition and reset hearing is scheduled for his case Aug. 23.
The jury began deliberating late Aug. 3. Trial began July 5.
San Bernardino Superior Judge Dan Detienne presided over oral argument.
Case No. FWV21002588
Read about closing arguments here.
