Vehicular Manslaughter Antidepressants 17/02/2010 Texas Wrong-Way Crash: Four Dead: Two Injured: Defendent Found Guilty
 
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       <td width="175"><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20130126154933/http://ssristories.com/show.php?item=3975">Vehicular Manslaughter</a></td>
       <td width="200">Antidepressants</td>
       <td width="100">2010-02-17</td>
       <td width="100">Texas</td>
       <td width="639">Wrong-Way Crash:  Four Dead: Two Injured: Defendent Found Guilty</td>
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 <p>http://web.archive.org/web/20130202051356/http://ssristories.com/show.php?item=3975</p>
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<div><font size="3">Paragraph 15 reads:&nbsp; &quot;After the wreck, DPS trooper Otto Cabrera wrote in an arrest affidavit that he &quot;could smell the strong odor of metabolized alcohol from Looschen.&quot; Looschen told Cabrera that he&#39;d been drinking and<strong><u> had taken <em>antidepressants </em></u></strong>as well as hydrocodone, according to the affidavit. Hydrocodone can be used as a cough suppressant or a pain reliever.&quot;<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/local/georgetown-man-pleads-guilty-in-fatal-2009-wreck-248382.html">http://www.statesman.com/news/local/georgetown-man-pleads-guilty-in-fatal-2009-wreck-248382.html</a> <br /><br /><br /></font><h1><strong>Georgetown man pleads guilty in fatal 2009 wreck<br /><br /></strong></h1><h2><strong>Luke Anthony Looschen faces up to 100 years in prison for wrong-way crash on Texas 29.</strong></h2><font size="3">By <a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/local/georgetown-man-pleads-guilty-in-fatal-2009-wreck-248382.html?service=popup&amp;authorContact=248382&amp;authorContactField=0">Miguel Liscano</a> <br /><br />AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF<br /><br />Updated: 12:49 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010<br /><br />Published: 8:54 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010<br /><br />A Georgetown man pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault, admitting guilt in causing a three-vehicle collision last summer that killed four people and injured two others.<br /><br />Luke Anthony Looschen, 48, entered his plea before District Judge Burt Carnes in a Williamson County courtroom. A sentencing hearing has been set for March 12 . He faces up to 100 years in prison.<br /><br />The guilty plea was not part of a plea agreement, Looschen&#39;s attorney Mike Davis and Williamson County Assistant District Attorney Robert McCabe said in court.<br /><br />&quot;Mr. Looschen has acknowledged his guilt from the get-go on this, and he felt the proper thing to do was to plead guilty,&quot; Davis said later.<br /><br />Family members of those killed in the wreck wept in the courtroom as Looschen entered his plea.<br /><br />Looschen, who has been in the Williamson County Jail with bail set at $600,000 since his arrest, showed no visible emotion during the hearing.<br /><br />&quot;Did you use your truck as a deadly weapon in this case?&quot; McCabe asked.<br /><br />&quot;Yes, sir, I did,&quot; Looschen replied.<br /><br />Because of that admission, Looschen must serve at least half of the sentence he receives, and Carnes cannot sentence him to probation, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said.<br /><br />Looschen was arrested Aug. 10 after troopers said he was driving a pickup east in a westbound lane of Texas 29 near Jonah and collided head-on with a Jeep and a van carrying seven people. The van slid down an embankment and struck a tree, according to a Department of Public Safety crash report.<br /><br />The driver of the Jeep was not seriously injured, officials said.<br /><br />In the van, Pete Mendez, 44, and Paula Martinez, 38 , were pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Two passengers died later at University Medical Center Brackenridge: Crystal Martinez , the 16-year-old daughter of Paula Martinez and Clemente Martinez, the driver; and Stephanie Valadez, 24, who was dating the couple&#39;s son.<br /><br />Valadez&#39;s daughter Tristan and son Jacob, who were 3 and 1, respectively, at the time of the wreck, were treated at Scott &amp; White Memorial Hospital in Temple and released.<br /><br />Clemente Martinez was not seriously injured, officials said.<br /><br />After the wreck, DPS trooper Otto Cabrera wrote in an arrest affidavit that he &quot;could smell the strong odor of metabolized alcohol from Looschen.&quot; Looschen told Cabrera that he&#39;d been drinking and had taken antidepressants as well as hydrocodone, according to the affidavit. Hydrocodone can be used as a cough suppressant or a pain reliever.<br /><br />Blood test results later revealed that Looschen&#39;s blood alcohol content level was 0.16 , or twice the legal limit of 0.08 , according to the DPS crash report. Looschen had been in a previous one-vehicle accident on July 16 in Williamson County, which he later discussed on his Facebook page. He said on the Web site that he had totaled his truck and &quot;sustained some scrapes, bruises and lacerations.&quot; On Aug. 3, a few days before the fatal crash, he wrote on Facebook that he was getting a replacement truck that day.<br /><br />In 2006, Looschen was in a motorcycle accident with his ex-wife, 43-year-old Shanan Looschen, in Georgetown, police said.<br /><br />Shanan Looschen was thrown from the motorcycle and died a day later at Brackenridge, police said. Neither was wearing a helmet, police said.<br /><br />No charges were filed in either of the two earlier wrecks.<br /><br />mliscano@statesman.com; 246-1150<br /></font></div> 
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