DUBLIN — A judge has reversed her previous order and allowed an Uber driver to enter into a 12-month diversion program to settle charges of killing a woman in a 2023 crash, court records show.
Read more Two people die in two vehicle collisions in unincorporated Santa Clara County
Roling Hernandez-Leiva, 29, will avoid the potential for a criminal conviction if he successfully completes the program, which requires community service, restitution, and a driving safety class that he’s already finished, court records show. Judge Ragland Madden accepted Hernandez-Leiva’s petition to enter the diversion program on Aug. 21, reversing her previous order that sided with prosecutors, who had opposed it.
Hernandez-Leiva was charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for allegedly running a red light at 57 miles per hour at around 2:20 a.m. Nov. 19, 2023. Prosecutors say his Toyota Yaris collided with a Ford Ranger containing a woman named Jennifer Jimenez, who was a passenger in her boyfriend’s car. Firefighters attempted to save her by extracting her through the windshield but she died roughly 20 minutes after the collision, before she could be moved to a hospital, according to court records.
The petitions to allow Hernandez-Leiva into diversion describe him as a “hard worker,” and a “churchgoer, an entrepreneur, a family man” who sponsors baseball teams and plays baseball in his free time. He donated to St. Judge’s Children’s Research Hospital since the crash. The defense also argued that police failed to verify if the light was red for Roling-Hernandez, by not acquiring footage from a nearby Chevron that could have proven or disproven that allegation.
Prosecutors countered with accusations that he lied to police by blaming the crash on Jimenez’s boyfriend, arguing that shows a lack of remorse.
Jimenez’s family members spoke out in court against the diversion, her father telling Madden that if Hernandez-Leiva is “not held accountable, we fear he will continue to break the law and harm another family.”
“What makes this loss even more devastating is the incredible potential Jennifer had and the bright future that was taken away from her. After graduating from San Francisco State University, she secured a job as a social worker at a non-profit organization,” her father said. “She had plans to return to college, earn her master’s degree and dance into a managerial role, and create a lasting impact in her community.”
Read more Monday Morning Lights: How St. Ignatius’ offense has become so potent
About the Author
