March 6, 2024 - Sonora, California - Tuolumne County District Attorney announced on Tuesday that on January 4, 2024 the Board of Parole Hearings granted parole to Brenda Barrera for the second-degree murder of Maxsimiano Aldana in a driving under the influence crash on April 21, 2015.

On April 21, 2015, Barrera was operating a Mercedes Benz when she collided head-on with a vehicle being operated by Maxsimiano Aldana on Highway 120 east of J-59.  Mr. Aldana was killed and three passengers in his car, Martha Aldana,  Vicente Cabrera and  Sara Cabrera, received significant injuries.   Barrera had driven with a relative from Sunnyvale to Black Oak Casino in the early morning hours of April 21 and video surveillance from the casino showed her stumbling and pan handling in the building.  She was contacted by casino security and left the grounds at approximately 9:15 a.m.  Additional video surveillance showed her driving on the wrong side of the road as she was leaving the property.  Minutes later, several drivers on 120 reported seeing a vehicle being driven erratically.  Near O’Byrnes Ferry Road a driver pulled alongside Barrera’s vehicle and noticed the driver appeared catatonic.  Just past O’Byrnes Ferry Road an off-duty nurse observed Barrera’s bad driving and uses a dash-mounted camera to film as she followed several vehicles behind.  The video showed Barrera tailgating, driving off the road onto the shoulder and crossing the center double yellow lines several times before pulling into the opposing lane of traffic and colliding head-on with Mr. Aldana’s vehicle.  The video shows Mr. Aldana’s car rolling several times before landing on its roof.  Barrera’s car went off the road, down an embankment and stopped against a fence.   Passing motorists rendered aid until first-responders could arrive.  Mr. Aldana was pronounced dead at the scene and the other passengers, all in their 70’s or 80’s,  were all transported to valley hospitals.  CHP noted signs of impairment when they contacted Barrera on scene.  The officer, who was a Drug Recognition Expert, believed she was under the influence of cannabis and a central-nervous-system depressant.  Two pill containers with traces of marijuana were found in her purse. 

Ms. Barrera was charged with Second Degree Murder, pursuant to People v. Watson, whereby someone convicted of a prior DUI can be charged with murder if they subsequently drive under-the-influence.   Barrera had been convicted of driving-under-the-influence in 2014 and given the Watson advisement, warning her of the consequences of future offenses causing death.  Her trial occurred in March, 2016.  There was evidence Barrera had been ordered to take an alcohol awareness class after her first DUI conviction, but had not done so.  Assistant District Attorney Eric Hovatter, who prosecuted Barrera introduced toxicology evidence that Barrera had consumed Xanax and marijuana prior to driving up to Tuolumne County.  Barrera did not testify.  She was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 13 years prison followed by 15 years to life. 

A court of appeals overturned the conviction in 2019 and ordered a new trial.  ADA Hovatter put on the second trial in December, 2019.  The same set of facts from the first trial were presented, except that Barrera testified and said she had not consumed Xanax, had smoked some marijuana the night before but was not impaired.   After six hours of deliberations Barrera was again convicted and sentenced to 13 years plus 15 years to life.   That decision was also appealed and in February, 2023 the California Court of Appeals, Fifth District, affirmed the judgment.  

Subsequent to the decision by the Court of Appeals, the Board of Parole approved Barrera for a parole.  Changes in sentencing guidelines enacted in recent years enable qualifying people serving life sentences with the possibility of parole to apply for, and be granted, a hearing to see if they are eligible for early release.  The hearings are held by several members of the parole board and are attended by the inmate, their attorney and a representative of the prosecuting agency.  

Barrera’s hearing was attended by ADA Hovatter, representing the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office.   Members of the Aldana and Cabrera families did not attend.  Prior to the hearing, the CDCR provided a packet of materials including a Comprehensive Risk Assessment report that looked at Barrera’s history and included a mental health history and diagnosis, her post-parole plans, her history of accomplishments and/or disciplinary actions while incarcerated, and a review of numerous risk-management-factors and their current relevance to any risk of violence should she be released.  The report rated Barrera as a low risk for being a danger.   Included in the materials were numerous letters Barrera had written to explain who she was at the time of the murder, why she did what she did, what she had learned about herself during her incarceration and how that new-found education helped her understand herself and how to deal with life-stresses if she were to be released. She also wrote letters to the victims and their families, apologizing for what she had done.   Barrera used the word “murder” to describe what she had and did not minimize her actions.  There were also a number of laudatory chronos (paperwork submitted by prison staff acknowledging positive contributions by inmates in prison programs) indicating Barrera was a model participant who contributed positively to each program she attended.  Finally, her packet included letters from several programs that were familiar with Barrera and that were prepared to work with her should she be released to re-assimilate into society.  

At the hearing Barrera was asked a number of questions about her background, use of drugs and alcohol, what occurred on the day of the incident and what she has done in prison since her first conviction.  She was remorseful and mentioned the names of the victims several times when discussing her crimes.  She showed insight into what she had done, how horrible the act was, how impactful it was to the victims and their families and her family, and what the root causes were.   Despite her insight and accomplishments, ADA Hovatter told the Board he felt that insufficient time had passed for Barrera to internalize her lessons such that a return to society would create the risk of her turning to drugs and alcohol again to deal with the stressors of re-assimilation.  

The parole board recommended parole.  They went over at length the factors they considered in coming up with their recommendation, specifically her youth at the time of the incident, the lack of any prior criminal history (other than the DUI that occurred before this crime), the lack of any negative history in prison, her exemplary history of participation in prison programming, the thoughtful and extensive work she put into her plans for post-prison re-assimilation, her noticeable remorse for her actions and her insight shown at the hearing.   This recommendation will be reviewed and a decision will be made in the coming months.
Source: Tuolumne County District Attorney's Office