Driver Not Charged in Daughter’s Death

Prosecutors said Monday they will not charge a Ventura mother with vehicular manslaughter in the death of her 10-year-old daughter, even though the California Highway Patrol recommended they do so.

After examining the case, Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. John Cordoza said nothing would be accomplished by filing charges against 35-year-old Debra Giannini of Ventura.

“I don’t know what punishment could more seriously be meted out than what has already happened,” Cordoza said.

In March, Tiffany Flores, a Portola School Elementary School fifth-grader, was lying on the backseat of her mother’s Toyota 4Runner and not wearing a seat belt when the vehicle rolled over several times on Pacific Coast Highway, CHP officers said.

The girl was ejected from the vehicle and died two days later in the intensive care unit of St. John’s Regional Medical Center from injuries to her head, brain and spine.

CHP officials recommended prosecution of Giannini for vehicular manslaughter, child endangerment and failure to provide and use a seat belt.

“Each of us has a separate and distinct responsibility when it comes to the preparation and investigation of a case,” CHP Capt. Dave Kissinger said. “We may not get into the personal issues of a case, which in this case was a terrible tragedy for everyone involved. . . . We understand why the district attorney made that decision.”

In contrast to a Santa Clarita mother who had already been cited twice for seat belt violations prior to being sentenced to 18 months in jail for the death of her 3-month-old son in August 1995, Giannini’s record is “pristine,” Cordoza said.

“If this was someone of repetitive carelessness, we would have evaluated this along different lines,” he said.

Giannini, who suffered minor injuries in the accident, could not be reached for comment.