Jury deadlocks on murder charge for Arroyo Grande woman who caused Highway 227 crash
A San Luis Obispo County jury could not decide whether an Arroyo Grande woman committed murder when she crashed head-on into another vehicle on purpose while high on cocaine, killing the other driver.
The jury of seven men and five women found Chelsea AnnMarie Stiles guilty of nine out of 10 charges she faced, including gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, a lesser offense to the second-degree murder charge. Jurors could only find her guilty of one of those most serious charges.
The murder charge alone carried a sentence of 15-years-to-life in prison, while the lesser offense has a maximum of 10 years in prison.
The trial lasted about two months — an unusually long proceeding in San Luis Obispo County — with each original member of the jury remaining through the verdicts. They deliberated for roughly three days.
Stiles, 27, was charged with murder for the death of San Luis Obispo resident Terry Tilton, who died following a series of crashes on and around Highway 227 in December 2019.
The driver compartment of 77-year-old Tilton’s Honda Ridgeline was crushed and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Stiles had also twice rear-ended a Honda Pilot carrying two adults and their child. They were not seriously injured but their vehicle was smashed and disabled.
Aside from the murder charge, jurors found Stiles guilty of each charge she faced.
Jurors found her guilty of the gross vehicular manslaughter charge, one charge of DUI causing injury, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of leaving the scene of a crash involving injury, a count of child abuse likely to cause great bodily injury, and a single misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance.
It was not immediately clear after the hearing what maximum sentence Stiles faces when including all nine convictions.
The jury foreperson declined to comment on deliberations following Thursday’s hearing.
Another juror who asked to speak anonymously told The Tribune that the jury officially split 11-1 on the murder charge, but he said that count was not concrete and some jurors appeared “not absolutely certain.”
“The issue was the intent,” the juror said. “I think the overarching concern was her mental state.”
Asked about the defense’s case, he said the jury had a “negative” view, and said defense witnesses and arguments “undermined (the defense’s) credibility” and were “not believable.”
Despite the mistrial on the most severe charge, the juror said the group worked well together and respected each other’s views.
“This was a big deal,” he said. “It involved the life of a person and years of the defendant’s life — this weighed heavily on everybody.”
Defendant was accused of ‘implied malice’ murder
Stiles, whose young daughter was in her SUV at the time of the collision, suffered moderate injuries in the crash and required several days’ hospitalization. Two dogs in the vehicle were also injured, and one was euthanized.
A bag containing a small, usable amount of cocaine was allegedly found in Stiles’ purse inside her wrecked Yukon SUV, which came to rest on its roof in the roadway just north of the Cold Canyon landfill, according to witnesses.
Throughout the weeks of testimony, jurors heard from a long list of CHP officers, medics, eyewitnesses, social workers, toxicology experts, Stiles’ family and former boyfriend, and Stiles herself.
A CHP officer testified that Stiles admitted to intentionally causing the crash that killed Tilton.
The San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office argued that Stiles committed murder with “implied malice,” which doesn’t require the prosecution to prove she intended to kill anyone. Prosecutors alleged that in a fit of rage, Stiles wanted to hurt her ex-boyfriend by killing herself and their child.
That type of murder charge requires jurors to find that Stiles caused a death while committing an act that’s dangerous to human life, that she knew was dangerous to human life, and deliberated and acted with conscious disregard for human life, assistant district attorney Eric Dobroth explained to the jury in his closing statement last week.
Gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, on the other hand, is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought, in the driving of a vehicle, where the driving was under the influence, and the killing was either the result of an unlawful act, like a traffic violation.
The defense, represented by attorney Ilan Funke-Bilu, said Stiles was suffering from psychological trauma, psychosis, and thought she was being pursued by a motorist when she caused the series of crashes. She had testified that she hit her head in the crash with the Ridgeline, causing the fatal crash seconds later.
Before releasing the jury Thursday, Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy thanked them for weathering two months of service during a global pandemic without any internal drama.
“I can not convey how inspirational you all are for me,” Duffy said, calling them “guardians of justice in a hard time.”
Stiles has remained in San Luis Obispo County Jail custody since her Dec. 1, 2019, arrest. She is scheduled to be sentenced in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Feb. 3.
