No early settlement in fatal DUI case of Merced DA's son

<p>A Santa Cruz-area student accused of drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter in a Valentine’s Day crash that may also have paralyzed his best friend has been scheduled for a preliminary hearing next month, quashing hopes of an early settlement in the case.</p><p>An attorney for Dylan Morse, 18, the son of Merced County’s chief prosecutor, said it’s possible the case may still be settled before a trial.</p><p>But documents from the crash, including CHP reports delivered a day earlier, were too voluminous to study in time to resolve the case at a Friday morning settlement conference, defense attorney Chris Andrian said.</p><p>“We’re two or three or four weeks away from having all the stuff that we need...the stakes being as high as they are,” Andrian said in an interview outside court.</p><p>Morse is accused of felony vehicular manslaughter in the Feb. 14 death of Alex Ruiz, 22, of Oakland. </p><p>Besides being under-age, authorities said a breath test indicated Morse’s blood alcohol level was 0.15 percent, nearly twice the 0.08 percent level at which one is assumed to be under the influence in California.</p><p>Injured were Morse’s friend and passenger, Ryne Spitzer, 19, who was left comatose and paralyzed by the crash, according to the criminal complaint in the case.</p><p>Spitzer remains hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he was listed Friday in stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.</p><p>Ruiz’s friend and roommate, Vanessa King, 25, of Berkeley, also suffered a broken arm and fractured collar bone in the crash.</p><p>The son of Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II and a student at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz County, Morse was in Sonoma County to visit Spitzer, a Sonoma State student, when the crash occurred early that morning.</p><p>The CHP said Morse was headed south on Stony Point Road approaching Highway 116 when he allegedly ran a red light at 70 mph and struck Ruiz’s car broadside, the CHP said.</p><p>He is charged with five counts, including suspected vehicular manslaughter, drunken driving, having alcohol in his vehicle and possessing a fake driver’s license.</p><p>Morse has pleaded not guilty in the case.</p><p>He is scheduled to appear April 17 before a new judge after his case was transferred out of the early resolution court Friday.</p><p>Five or six members of his family, escorted by a victim advocate, attended court proceedings but declined to be interviewed.</p><p>Morse, who was released Feb. 26 from the Sonoma County Jail after posting bond for $180,000 bail, was accompanied to court by his mother. They did not comment.</p>