Stanford Student Loses Defamation Suit Against Family of Car Crash Victims

Court Upholds First Amendment Rights in Controversial Case

A California court ruled against Stanford student King Vanga on November 19 in his defamation lawsuit against Priscilla Juarez, whose family members died in a 2021 car crash he caused. The case centered on letters Juarez wrote to Stanford University about Vanga following the deaths of her mother and father-in-law. The court determined Juarez’s communications were protected speech under the First Amendment, marking a significant victory for free speech advocates in cases involving private citizens.

5 Key Points

• Stanford student King Vanga sued Priscilla Juarez for defamation over letters she wrote to the university.
• The lawsuit stemmed from a 2021 car crash that killed Juarez’s mother and father-in-law.
• Initial charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated were later amended after blood tests showed no drugs or alcohol.
• The court ruled Juarez’s statements were protected opinions under the First Amendment.
• Vanga has filed additional defamation lawsuits against other family members of the deceased.

Fatal 2021 Crash Leads to Complex Legal Battle

On June 25, 2021, King Vanga was involved in a car crash in Atwater, California, that killed Pamela Juarez and Jose Juarez. At the scene, Vanga declined a breathalyzer test, but responding officers reported detecting “a strong odor of alcoholic beverage” and observed his red eyes. Prosecutors initially charged him with two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, along with resisting an executive officer, attempting to take a peace officer’s firearm, and battery upon a peace officer. In December 2021, Vanga threatened to sue Atwater police and California Highway Patrol, claiming officers had punched, kicked, and tased him twice during his arrest. After blood samples showed no presence of drugs or alcohol, prosecutors amended the charges in March 2023 to two counts of vehicular manslaughter. The criminal case awaits trial.

University Letters Trigger Defamation Claims

Following media reports of the crash, Priscilla Juarez and other family members wrote letters to Stanford University about Vanga. Juarez’s email urged the university to dismiss Vanga, characterizing him as a “murderer” and claiming he had violated the university’s code of conduct. While Stanford informed Vanga they would investigate the matter, Juarez has yet to receive a response from the university. No evidence suggests Stanford took disciplinary action, and Vanga continued his studies. He is currently enrolled as an undergraduate in computer science and a graduate student in management science and engineering.

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Court Upholds Family’s Right to Free Speech

The defamation lawsuit emerged after Vanga accessed his Stanford student files in October 2022 and discovered the family’s letters. He sued Priscilla Juarez in 2023, offering to withdraw the lawsuit if she removed any online statements about him, including posts on an X account run by family members seeking justice for Pamela and Jose Juarez. Vanga also demanded Juarez cease making future statements about him and stop encouraging his criminal prosecution. In response, Juarez’s attorney, Kenneth White ’91, filed an anti-SLAPP motion – a legal tool designed to dismiss lawsuits that target protected speech. On November 19, 2024, the court ruled that Juarez’s statements qualified as protected opinions under the First Amendment. The judge determined her claims about intoxication were not defamatory, given the police and media reports available when she wrote to Stanford.

Anti-SLAPP Victory Sets Precedent for Pending Family Lawsuits

The ruling requires Vanga to pay Juarez’s legal fees, a provision of California’s anti-SLAPP statute intended to discourage lawsuits that intimidate people from exercising their free speech rights. “There’s a trend where rich people think that the poor should only have as much free speech as they can afford,” White told The Stanford Daily. Vanga has filed similar defamation lawsuits against other Juarez family members, with those cases still pending. White expressed optimism about these related cases, noting that while “every case is a little different because every case is based on what that defendant said in their letter,” the other family members “should be very optimistic based on this result.”