A man who was serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for a crash in Harbor City that killed a Los Angeles police officer and injured his partner was re-sentenced Wednesday to 22 years to life in prison.
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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James D. Otto cited recent changes in state law, saying he believes he now had the discretion to strike a special circumstance allegation against Mynor Enrique Varela, now 32, and re- sentence him to the lower term that allows him a chance at parole.
Deputy District Attorney Geoff Lewin told the judge the District Attorney's Office was monitoring the case and may file an appeal that could wind up with the life-without-parole sentence being reinstated.
Appearing via video from state prison, Varela apologized to the victim's family and the surviving officer.
"I take full responsibility for my selfish and reckless act," he said.
He cited the "destructive path I once took" and said he understands the "heartache my actions caused and continue to cause."
Varela -- who married while behind bars and now has a young daughter -- said he has shared his story with others and vowed to live a life of service.
He was convicted in 2018 of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter for the May 3, 2014, early morning crash at Anaheim Street and Senator Avenue that cut short the life of Officer Roberto Sanchez.
The 32-year-old newlywed, who had been on the police force for six years, was pronounced dead about two hours after the collision. His partner, Richard Medina, suffered a broken jaw and other injuries.
A previous jury convicted Varela in April 2017 of two counts of assault on a peace officer and one count of leaving the scene of the crash, but deadlocked on the murder and vehicular manslaughter charges, leading to the 2018 retrial on those counts.
The prosecutor told jurors during the first trial that Varela used his SUV to try to stop the officers, who were trying to make a U-turn to pursue a vehicle being driven by one of Varela's friends. Lewin said the prosecution was not contending that it was an intentional murder, but someone acting in disregard of a dangerous situation.
The prosecutor called it "shocking" that Varela drove toward the patrol car in his Chevrolet Tahoe after the officers began to chase his friend's Chevrolet Camaro.
Varela -- a certified nursing assistant who was wearing a cast on his right foot -- fled after the crash but surrendered to police nine hours later, Lewin said. Varela acknowledged to police that he had been driving the SUV and that he limped away from the scene, but he denied knowing the Camaro's driver, with whom he had been friends for about eight years, the prosecutor said.
Medina, who had called his partner his best friend, said the night is forever burned into his memory.
"The survivor's guilt I have experienced is real," he told the judge, saying that the last words he spoke to Sanchez were that he wanted to respond to a radio call that would "eventually take the life of my partner, injure me and change the lives of so many people."
He said he has "worked very hard to honor Robert and the impact he has had at our department and community," but added that "the wound is still raw and people have not forgotten what occurred on May 3, 2014."
LAPD Officer Maria Carlos said she and her partner responded early that morning to "the most horrific scene we could ever imagine" involving two of her friends and that "it hit home and it hit hard."
"... When he (Varela) was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, I felt peace in my heart and felt that justice was served. I felt that the community I patrol would no longer have to be put in jeopardy by this individual's selfish actions. Now, I no longer feel that way," she said. "This individual should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law for his thoughtless, reckless and selfish decisions he made the early morning of May 3, 2014."
Varela's current attorney, Steven Liner, told the judge that his client has "expressed deep remorse for his conduct" and "been a force of good for others in prison." He added that it was not common for a young person to go to state prison and turn himself around so quickly.
Defense attorney Regina Filippone -- who represented Varela in his first trial but not his retrial -- told jurors the crash was an unavoidable tragedy and that the case was about Varela and "1.2 seconds in his life."
Most people need 1.5 seconds to perceive and react to a dangerous situation, she said, telling jurors that Varela had just 1.2 seconds to react as the patrol car began to make a U-turn and that her client swerved to the left to try to avoid the impending collision.
"He could not have avoided this accident," Filippone told jurors. "There was no hatred of the police. There was no reason for him to take his pride-and-joy truck and ram a police car, none."
In an October 2020 ruling, a three-justice panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal found that the evidence "reasonably supports" the jury's finding that Varela "intentionally used" his Chevrolet Tahoe SUV as a deadly weapon.
The appellate court panel noted that Varela "immediately sped after the police car" when the officers began chasing his friend's Chevrolet Camaro, which had been spinning "donuts" in the middle of the street.
"Defendant, who had recently consumed beer, purposely pursued the police car at a high rate of speed, reaching the maximum rate of acceleration for the Tahoe to do so," the justices noted in their 13-page ruling. "Even as the distance between the Tahoe and the police car narrowed, defendant did not apply hard brakes and instead tapped the brakes and then pressed the accelerator. Further, rather than drive straight forward on his path, which would have avoided a collision, defendant steered his Tahoe, a heavy sports utility vehicle, toward the lighter police car, resulting in a fatal collision."
Varela and his brother "successfully fled from the collision site, relatively unscathed," the justices noted.
The California Supreme Court subsequently refused to review the case against Varela.
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