Burlingame Man Found Guilty of Second-Degree Murder

A jury found Bruce Alan Walker Jr. of Burlingame guilty of second-degree murder Tuesday for a 2009 DUI crash that killed his passenger.

Walker was driving south on El Camino Real on April 11, 2009, when he lost control of his car near Howard Avenue.

He was allegedly speeding when he hit the curb and spun out before jumping the northbound curb, hitting a tree and flipping the car to its roof, killing his passenger and friend, 36-year-old Daniel White.

The jury reached its conclusion after a 20-day trial and two jury deliberations after one juror was removed for researching toxicology.

A 20-day jury trial in April ended with the jury finding Walker guilty on a count of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and intoxication, but deadlocked on a count of second-degree murder, causing the court to declare a mistrial.

Instead of accepting a plea deal at that time, Walker decided to undergo a second trial. He now faces 15 years to life and will be sentenced in December.

Walker has two prior misdemeanor drunk driving convictions from 1997 and 2001 in San Mateo County.

While prosecutors believe Walker's history demonstrates he is a public safety risk, his defense claimed a murder charge is too harsh, especially since he must live with knowing the accident killed his best friend.

Walker remains in custody on $2 million bail.