One of the worst vacation stories ever came to something of a close
today when Marlies Mussner, a 24-year-old Italian woman, was convicted of vehicular manslaughter for killing a motorcyclist a few weeks ago.
While cruising
through Huntington Beach in the late afternoon of June 26 in her rented Dodge Caliber, Mussner made a problematic left turn at an intersection and struck 59-year-old Mark
Montgomery, who was riding his Harley Davidson. Montgomery was thrown from his bike and died at the hospital half an hour later. Mussner pleaded guilty
to the misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter, and was convicted
today. She was given
Mussner was sentenced to 45 days in jail, 250 hours of community service, and ordered to make a $1,000 charitable donation to the Dana Watkins Memorial Fund, a charity established by the mother of a man killed in a motorcycle crash to help families pay the funeral costs for their deceased children.
