Driver Convicted in Crash That Killed 2

A 35-year-old Arleta man was convicted Monday of voluntary manslaughter for causing a five-car accident that killed a Bakersfield couple and injured three other people.

A Van Nuys Superior Court jury found Michael Augustine Mares guilty on two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter in the April 17, 1989, deaths of Charlotte Knowlden, 66, and her husband, James, 69. The jury also convicted Mares of reckless driving but acquitted him of two counts of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Mares was driving the wrong way along a Sepulveda street when he ran a red light and struck a pickup truck and the car driven by James Knowlden. Knowlden’s car then crashed into two other cars.

The district attorney’s office had sought to convict Mares of two counts of second-degree murder, arguing that he was under the influence of PCP at the time of the crash. Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth A. Loveman told jurors that Mares had three prior drug-related driving convictions and should have been aware of the danger of driving under the influence of PCP.

But Mares’ attorney, Michael V. White, argued that Mares had taken PCP the day before the crash and was not under its influence at the time of the accident. White contended that the accident was caused by a stuck accelerator pedal in Mares’ car and said he swerved to the wrong side of the street to avoid another vehicle.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Judith Meisels Ashmann put Mares under electronic house arrest until his sentencing May 14.