William Cady found guilty on 3 counts gross vehicular manslaughter
SAN DIEGO (KUSI) -- A drunk driver who crashed his SUV and killed three people was found guilty Tuesday of gross vehicular manslaughter.
But the jury acquitted William Daniel Cady of the more serious charge of second-degree murder.
Three lives were lost in a crash that night after the defendant in this case made a series of bad choices.
This was a judgement day for a drunk driver accused of murder.
A verdict of not guilty of murder in the case against 26-year-old William Cady, the driver who had been drinking and smoking pot, before crashing his SUV last January, killing three of his friends.
But the jury did find him guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter and DUI.
Prosecutors asked for a murder conviction.
Investigators said Cady was speeding and ignored his passengers' please to slow down.
Even telling them, "It is my car and I will drive it anyway I want."
On the night of the crash, Cady was driving in Clairemont on Interstate 805 to the 52 West on-ramp.
When he lost control of his Cadillac Escalade, the SUV flipped.
Three passengers, 23-year-old Shon Gilliam, 29-year-old Taylor Bednarski and 35-year-old Jeffrey Becker were killed.
After less than a day of deliberation, the jury convicted him of vehicular manslaughter and DUI.
The DA who tried the case tried to put the verdict in perspective.
This is not Cady's first experience with the legal system.
In 2011, a judge warned Cady to stay way from alcohol, following a conviction for vandalism. Then, one year later, while on probation, Cady totaled his Mustang after drinking and crashing on a curved road.
Eric Ganci is a defense attorney not associated with this case.
He said although it may be more emotionally gratifying to seek the maximum penalty, in the justice system, there is a big distinction between manslaughter and murder.
The DUI expert said the jury would have to find that Cady acted with malice and a conscious disregard for the lives of his friends.
Cady's defense attorney argued that the passengers had also been drinking heavily that night and made a decision to get in the drunk driver's car.
A murder conviction would likely have sent Cady to prison for life.
He's be facing serious time behind bars when he is sentenced in July.