A 72-year-old cardiologist from Sonora may serve only one year in jail plus probation for the 2021 crash that killed a 26-year-old nurse from Reedley on Highway 99 .
Dr. James Comazzi was in Fresno County Superior Court on Monday for what was supposed to be the continuation of his preliminary hearing. But instead Comazzi agreed to plead no contest to one count of hit and run resulting in permanent injury or death and vehicular manslaugther without gross negligence.
Comazzi is accused of hitting and killing Juliana Ramos of Reedley on Feb. 10, 2021 at about 12:30 a.m. as she was helping the victim of a crash on northbound Highway 99 near the Manning Avenue exit.
Ramos was in a vehicle with three others travelling north on 99 when they came upon debris in the road from a collision that had just happened.
The driver pulled over near the center median and Ramos and the driver got out and began rendering emergency care at the scene, according to a civil lawsuit filed by the driver and two other passengers in the car.
Not far behind, was Comazzi and his wife. He was driving a 2017 Ford Explorer, California license number BSTILLL, heading north on 99 at a high rate of speed, according to the lawsuit.
It is alleged Comazzi failed to see the cars and pedestrians and stuck them.
Jeff Hammerschmidt, Comazzi’s lawyer, said after Monday’s hearing that his client remembers hitting a guardrail, but not a person. However, he did stop and get out of his vehicle and he saw Ramos on the ground.
Comazzi left the scene of the crash before law enforcement arrived. It took investigators eight months to locate him and charge him .
Hammerschmidt said he and prosecutor Sierra teNyenhuis agreed to resolve the case after Judge Geoffrey Wilson indicated he would likely sentence Comazzi to a maximum of one year in jail plus probation.
Hammerschmidt said the judge took into consideration Comazzi’s age and his lack of a criminal record when arriving at his possible sentence.
Had the case gone to trial and Comazzi was found guilty on all charges he could have been sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison.
Comazzi will return to court for sentencing June 10. Also expected to attend will be friends and family of Ramos.
Cinthia Ramos, sister-in-law to Juliana Ramos, speaks to the media Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021 in Fresno after California Highway Patrol Lt. Austin Matulonis announced the arrest of James Leonard Comazzi, 68, a Sonora man, as a suspect in a fatal hit-and-run that killed Juliana Ramos in February. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
The Fresno Bee
A Valley native, Robert has worked at The Fresno Bee since 1994, covering various topics including education, business, courts and agriculture.