Compounding layers of leniency in California laws are allowing drivers charged with vehicular manslaughter to walk away with clean criminal and driving records, prompting calls for reform from victims’ families.
Allison Lyman, who is looking for accountability for the crash that killed her son last year, believes soft-on-crime laws passed under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s tenure have weakened accountability for road deaths, amounting to what she described as “negligence.”
“You know, our hunch is this was all happening during ‘soft on crime,’ ‘let’s clear the jails,’” Lyman said of California’s laws.
“And the consequence now is us — with these drivers right back on our roads.”
BLUE CITY ERUPTS AS 91-TIME FELON TRIES TO DODGE PRISON, WEASEL INTO REHAB AFTER CRASH
Lyman’s son, Connor Lopez, was killed in a collision on April 23, 2025, when Harkit Kaur, a 50-year-old woman, turned into a clear view of incoming traffic and blocked the path of Lopez’s motorcycle, according to eyewitnesses to the accident.
Kaur did not show signs of intoxication after taking a standardized field sobriety test, police reports indicate. Fox News Digital reached out to Kaur’s legal representation.
After the accident, Lyman was shocked to hear the death was considered a “misdemeanor” under California laws dealing with non-violent crimes — something amounting to less than a shoplifting crime. But her shock only grew when she was told Kaur could soon have the accident wiped entirely from her record through a law Newsom approved in 2020.
“I won’t ever forget the day I sat in front of the DA. He said something about a ‘diversion program.’ And then we learned: Governor Newsom signed AB 3234 into law,” Layman explained.
CALIFORNIA’S SOROS-BACKED PROGRESSIVE EXPERIMENT COLLAPSES AFTER A DECADE
That law expanded judges’ authority to grant pretrial dismissal in some misdemeanor cases, allowing charges to be completely dismissed if defendants complete court-ordered programs and “would deem the arrest upon which diversion was imposed to have never occurred.”
The law can apply to more than just traffic violations.
“And then the charge is dismissed. It is erased,” Lyman said. “The driver that killed Connor has never lost her license. I’ve seen her driving,” Lyman said.
Lyman noted that Kaur hasn’t yet officially received a diversion ruling and will receive a final sentencing ruling next week.
Coupled with other Newsom-approved laws, Lyman said courts are specifically told to consider diversion ahead of possible jail sentences.
“I zoomed in for a woman whose husband was killed in Sacramento. It’s a misdemeanor. She has the same judge as Connor. And the judge was talking about making his decision and cited this code that I had never heard of — 17.2. And it was another law passed in 2023 that essentially tells judges to consider everything, including diversion, before jail,” Lyman said.
Newsom approved 17.2 through AB 2167 — a law that requires “a court to consider alternatives to incarceration including collaborative justice court programs, diversion, restorative justice and probation.”
In the wake of her son’s death, now one year ago, Lyman is working with state lawmakers to advocate for SB 953 — a law that would require all vehicular manslaughter to be reported to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
THIS IS HOW WE’LL KNOW IF CALIFORNIA GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM’S EPIPHANY ON ‘LIBERAL GOVERNANCE’ IS REAL
Sen. Roger Niello, R-Calif., the bill’s sponsor, explained his legislation would put two points on the defendant’s driving record, regardless of diversion.
“Under current laws, a speeding ticket can now have a greater reflection on a driver’s record than killing somebody with a car. A diversion does not change the fact that a fatality occurred,” Niello said at a press event earlier this week.
“The DMV cannot do its job of determining who poses a risk and who does not.”
SB 953 advanced unanimously out of committee on Tuesday.
Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office.
California mom rips Newsom-backed ‘diversion program’ that appears to benefit her son’s killer 2026 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2026-05-07 19:59:14 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
