Case # 15CF1119
13HF2830
Date: June 9, 2015
ATTORNEY FACES ADDITIONAL CHARGE FOR ILLEGALLY POSSESSING PRESCRIPTION DRUGS IN JAIL
*Defendant awaiting sentencing for crashing car and killing bicyclist while driving under influence of prescription drugs
SANTA ANA – An attorney is facing an additional charge of possessing a controlled substance while she was being held in custody at jail. She is awaiting sentencing for crashing her car and killing a bicyclist while driving under the influence of prescription drugs. Hasti Fakhrai-Bayrooti, 41, Rancho Santa Margarita, was charged May, 26, 2015, with one felony count of possession of a controlled substance in a correctional facility. She previously pleaded guilty March 10, 2015, to one felony count of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated (Case #13HF2830). She is scheduled for sentencing tomorrow, Wednesday, June 10, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. in Department H-13, Harbor Justice Center, Newport Beach.
Circumstances of Case #13HF2830
At approximately 6:45 p.m. on March 15, 2013, Fakhrai-Bayrooti was driving her car southbound on Santa Margarita Parkway in Mission Viejo after consuming prescription drugs, including Xanax and Suboxone. She swerved into a bike lane, crashing into 54-year-old bicyclist Eric Billings between the intersection of El Toro Road and Los Alisos Boulevard, causing the victim to roll over the hood and windshield. The victim died at the scene as a result of sustaining multiple traumatic injuries from the crash.
OCSD arrived at the scene and investigated this case. OCSD arrested the defendant on Sept. 24, 2013, after the Orange County Crime Laboratory analyzed the blood evidence.
At the time of the crime, Fakhrai-Bayrooti had been an active member of the State Bar of California since 2005.
Circumstances of Case #15CF1119
On May 8, 2015, Fakhrai-Bayrooti was present in court for a sentencing hearing on Case #13HF2830. Her defense attorney requested a continuance to review the probation and sentencing report and told the court that the defendant was recently admitted to a rehab program and receiving treatment. The court granted the continuance but ordered the defendant to be remanded into the custody of OCSD and transported to jail pending sentencing.
On May 13, 2015, Fakhrai-Bayrooti is accused of possessing prescription drug pills Clonazepam while being held in jail.
Deputy District Attorney Stephen Cornwell of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.