Former Coral Springs police officer in Coral Gables fatal crash gets off free

Jeniffer Gutierrez, 23, who died in Coral Gables crash, left behind daughter

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade County prosecutors dropped DUI manslaughter charges against a former Coral Springs police officer Wednesday morning.

Peter William Munoz, 27, was accused of driving drunk and speeding when he was involved in a July 16, 2011 fatal crash in Coral Gables. 

About 4 a.m., he was driving a black 2009 Volkswagen on LeJeune Road. Jennifer Gutierrez, 23, was driving a black BMW eastbound on Aledo Avenue and turned left to Le Jeune Road. She was driving with a suspended license.

"I don't think I had a chance to hit my brakes because it was that sudden, out of nowhere," Munoz said during an interview with investigators in a recorded interview.

The collision killed Gutierrez, a paralegal, Miami-Dade College student and mother of a four-year-old girl. She was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital and taken of off life support four days after the crash. There was evidence of Xanax and cocaine in her system.

Munoz survived the crash. A Coral Gables traffic homicide investigator got a hold of a toxicology report that showed he had a blood-alcohol level of .229 -- triple the legal limit. The Coral Springs Police Department fired Munoz.

Miami-Dade County Judge Dennis Murphy excluded the toxicology report due to a technicality related to the warrant used to obtain it. Christopher Gaulion and Rudolph Jean-Louis were driving on LeJeune and told police Munoz was speeding.

Without evidence that he was driving drunk or speeding at a "level of recklessness," prosecutors dropped the DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide reckless charges that he was charged with Oct. 27, 2011.

DOCUMENT | Read the Prosecutors' closeout memo (.PDF)

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About the Author:

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.