A Sacramento County jury has convicted 33-year-old Richard Newman of second-degree murder for a drunk-driving crash that killed 50-year-old Nathan Christopher Scott Thomas near Southside Park, a case prosecutors say was built on the fact that Newman had already been warned that driving drunk again could cost someone their life.
The crash happened at the intersection of 9th Street and T Street in downtown Sacramento at approximately 11:50 p.m. on August 21, 2025, according to the Sacramento Police Department. As reported by FOX40, Newman ran a red light while driving 55 mph through the intersection and collided with a vehicle that was proceeding through a green light. The impact pushed Thomas's vehicle onto a curb, where it struck a traffic light pole.
Thomas was taken to a hospital with a traumatic brain injury and multiple facial fractures, per the same account from FOX40. Investigators determined Newman's blood alcohol content was 0.21 percent at the time of the crash.
Weeks in a Coma Before Family's Final Goodbye
Thomas underwent a craniotomy at UC Davis Medical Center and died from his injuries on September 11, 2025, according to the Brain Injury Help Center. He was a father of a 12-year-old boy, and his family honored his wish to be an organ donor with a ceremonial honor walk, the organization reports.
Newman sustained only minor injuries in the collision. He was initially booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on August 23, 2025, on charges of DUI causing great bodily injury, and was expected to face additional vehicular-manslaughter charges.
Prior Conviction and Signed Warning Became Key Evidence
The case turned on Newman's history. He had a prior DUI conviction and had completed a victim impact course offered by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which included a Watson advisement warning him that killing someone in a future drunk-driving crash could lead to murder charges, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office. Under California Vehicle Code Section 23593, courts are required to issue that formal warning to every person convicted of DUI, as Kelmansky Law explains. A documented Watson advisement can be evidence supporting a prosecutor's implied-malice argument in a later fatal crash.
That legal doctrine traces back to the 1981 California Supreme Court case People v. Watson, which established that fatal DUI crashes can be charged as second-degree murder if prosecutors prove implied malice — that the driver knowingly engaged in life-threatening behavior with conscious disregard for human life, according to the Crawford Law Firm. Deputy District Attorney Toni Gonzalez of the Sacramento County District Attorney's Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case, which went to a jury on October 16, 2026, per the District Attorney's Office.
Sentencing Set for November
Newman faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 20, 2026, at 1:30 p.m., per FOX40, and will take place in Department 16A of Sacramento County Superior Court before Judge Steve White, the District Attorney's Office says.
