Accused Driver Convicted in Death of L.A. Angels Pitcher Nick Adenhart

A California jury returned a guilty verdict today on three counts of second-degree murder in the death of Los Angeles Angels rookie pitcher, Nick Adenhart and two others in April, 2009.

Gallo was charged and convicted of the more serious second-degree murder charges rather than manslaughter because he has a previous DUI conviction and was known to understand the specific dangers of drinking and driving from his own experience.

Prosecutor Susan Price noted to the jurors that Gallo had been repeatedly warned by family, friends and court officials about the dangers of drinking and driving. However, his continued need to party and arrogance apparently took precedence over those warnings.

Gallo was on probation at the time of the accident for drunken driving when he crashed his van into the car that carried Adenhart and his friends. Price also noted that Gallo had signed papers signifying that if he were to be arrested and charged with killing someone while drunk, that he would be charged with murder.

Adenhart, a promising young pitcher for the Angels, had just pitched six scoreless innings in his debut earlier that day, April 9th, 2009. Hours later, while driving in Fullterton, Adenhart and his friends were killed after Gallo had plowed through a red light and hit the car.

Courtney Stewart, 20, who was the driver of the car, and Henry Pearson, 25, were also killed in the crash. Another passenger, Jon Wilhite, was severely injured but survived.

Gallo could face more than 50 years in prison. His sentencing has been set for Dec. 10.

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