A pre-trial hearing and bail-review hearing for Mammoth Lakes resident Amelia Markarian was held Tuesday, Oct. 10 in Mono County Superior Court in Bridgeport.
Markarian was charged by the Mono County District Attorney’s office with second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving while under the influence of alcohol and with a blood-alcohol level of .08 or more and causing great bodily injury in a traffic collision that killed Coleville resident Christopher Harper on Sept. 7.
Mono County District Attorney Tim Kendall said Markarian’s defense attorney asked the court to reduce her bail. The Mono County DA’s office argued against it and the court kept bail set at $2 million.
The court set another pre-trial hearing for Dec. 4 before setting the matter for a preliminary hearing. She remains in custody.
During the early evening of September 7th, Markarian, age 65, was driving northbound on Highway 395, just south of Highway 89 in Mono County.
Officials reported that due to her intoxication she failed to negotiate a right-hand turn and crossed over the solid yellow line dividing the roadway. She collided head-on into Harper’s vehicle, killing him instantly.
The Mono DA reported further investigation revealed that Ms. Markarian had a blood-alcohol level over the legal limit.
Markarian was arraigned on September 12th in the Bridgeport courthouse, and plead not guilty.
Andy….What would be said if she happened to bail out and she were to drink and drive again,have another accident with maybe the same kind of consequences ?….think maybe the Judge’s decision to keep the high bail was thinking that way….more like a “danger to the public ” thing….and maybe… Read more »
Some of you are unfamiliar with rights in this country. The right to bail is does not get anyone off. It does allow them to tend to their defense while awaiting trial. She’s a 65yr old woman with no criminal record – not a drug lord or anything. The defense… Read more »
Gibs…she SHOULD pay for her mistake….and of course,wasn’t intentional….but her choice was to drink,get drunk and drive..and kill an innocent person doing it.Having happened to me and my family log ago,losing a loved one to a drunk driver,sometimes very hard to forgive..and hard to feel very sorry for those that… Read more »
Forgiveness. It’s hard for me to imagine anything so horrible happening up there in the Eastern Sierra. I feel for both families. But she will pay for her mistake, but it clearly wasn’t intentional.
Forgiveness hasn’t even began to enter the equation yet .Feeling sorry for HER family is a mistake. They can visit her in prison , they can still interact with her, she can still visit with her grandchildren (if she has any),and eventually , she will be released to continue her… Read more »
Feeling sorry for her family is a mistake, why? You’re not a sensible person. Her family is probably devastated for all parties involved. They’ve suffered a loss as well. You assume she will be released to continue her life. Let me ask you, what life? Surely she will suffer as… Read more »
“What life” asks Andy ? Life, among the living, eating,breathing, interacting with other LIVING people , a choice that Chris Harper and his family doesn’t get to make. “Surely , she will suffer the rest of her life”. I hope she does, and she should, but that’s of little consequence… Read more »
…100 % agree with Mr.Rick on this one…losing a loved one to a drunk driver ,something you never get over.
If he were my dad, Rick, I’d definitely feel sorry for the other family. My point was to challenge your assessment that feeling sorry for her family is a mistake. Her family is just as innocent.
This isn’t a case where “maybe” she did it, maybe she didn’t . She was behind the wheel and a man is dead because of her negligence. If alcohol was a factor , she’s in deep, deep sh#*. The last thing that should be on her mind is putting her… Read more »
Glad to see the bail was denied….one less possible and future probable drunk driver…again… on the highways we’ll have to worry about avoiding,at least for a while….