Resendez v. State

Late one evening, Devry Resendez (defendant) was driving at a rate of 102 miles per hour down a Texas highway when she rear-ended a car containing Roxann Munguia and Munguia’s passenger, Carmen Cantu. The cars spun out of control, and Munguia’s car came to a stop on the highway, facing the wrong direction and without hazard or headlights flashing. A couple driving by stopped to assist Munguia, and as they pulled her away from the wreck, another car traveling down the highway driven by Thomas Wallin struck Munguia’s car. Wallin was traveling at a rate of 58 miles per hour and did not see Munguia’s car early enough to swerve or stop. Wallin struck Munguia’s car about seven minutes after the initial collision. Afterward, Munguia and other witnesses found Cantu lying on the pavement. She died from her injuries. Police arrested Resendez on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, and she consented to a blood test, which showed that her blood alcohol level was beyond the legal limit. Resendez was tried and convicted of intoxication manslaughter and appealed, arguing that Wallin’s collision with Munguia’s car was an intervening act that made Wallin, rather than Resendez’s level of intoxication, the superseding cause of Cantu’s death. The state argued that Resendez remained the but-for cause of Cantu’s death, making her criminally culpable.