Porterville, Calif -- Joe Valley arrived at Tulare County Superior Court Friday morning, October 12, 2018, to learn his fate in the case of the DUI hit-and-run killing of cyclist Octavio Munguia.
Joseph Michael Valley, the boyfriend of disgraced anti-porn crusader Shelley Lubben, was given a state prison sentence of 11 years for Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated and Leaving the Scene of an Accident.
Shelley Lubben, who stormed out of Valley's Sept 28 court hearing as soon as her "toxic relationship" with him -- which had been marked by substance abuse and domestic violence -- was raised, did not bother to attend her lover's sentencing, Friday.
Valley's mother did attend court today -- as well as other individuals believed to be Joe Valley's family members who cursed at Munguia's family in the courthouse parking lot after the hearing.
Joseph Michael Valley, the boyfriend of disgraced anti-porn crusader Shelley Lubben, was given a state prison sentence of 11 years for Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated and Leaving the Scene of an Accident.
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| Joe Valley |
Shelley Lubben, who stormed out of Valley's Sept 28 court hearing as soon as her "toxic relationship" with him -- which had been marked by substance abuse and domestic violence -- was raised, did not bother to attend her lover's sentencing, Friday.
Eyewitnesses confirm that after leaving the courthouse on Sept 28, where Valley stood condemned due to a devastating death caused by drinking, Shelley Lubben, her local gal pal, and their friend Taz Graves retired to The Antlers Roadhouse for drinks.
The Antlers being the same spot where Joe Valley drank before his car plowed into Mr. Munguia an the way home to the house he shared with Lubben.
Valley's mother did attend court today -- as well as other individuals believed to be Joe Valley's family members who cursed at Munguia's family in the courthouse parking lot after the hearing.
“Whenever a life is lost to the selfish choices of a drunk driver, the community as a whole feels both anger and fear that they could become the next innocent victim on their way to work, school, or while enjoying a quiet bike ride,” said Assistant District Attorney David Alavezos. “The sentence handed down by the court will not bring back the life lost, and the defendant will continue his own existence, but for now that existence will be behind prison walls.”
Case closed
Valley recently changed his plea from Not Guilty in the hit-and-run drunk driving death of Mr. Munguia, to a plea of No Contest. His new plea accepted by the court, he stood convicted of Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated and Leaving the Scene of an Accident, but awaiting sentence.
At the time Valley's new plea was accepted, Judge Michael B. Sheltzer indicated that a nine-year prison sentence would be in order, subject to modification by the presence of any mitigating or aggravating factors in the case.
Judge Sheltzer is the same judge who dismissed Shelley Lubben's trumped up charges against her ex-husband, Garrett, in February 2017.
Valley's Sept 28 court appearance had been slated as a sentencing hearing, so the family of the victim were in attendance with written Impact Statements to be read into the record. However, Joe Valley's Public Defender asked the court if Valley could read a short statement first, and the judge permitted it.
Looking pale but composed, Valley apologized for his actions, and claimed that the day he ran down Mr. Munguia was a "blur" to him.
Valley's apology was not accepted by the members of Munguia's family, including his wife of 30 years and his younger brother. Their heartbreaking statements moved many in the courtroom to tears, but it was something the victim's brother said that generated a most unusual reaction in the room.
Addressing Valley directly, the moment the victim's brother mentioned Valley's "toxic relationship" with Shelley Lubben which had been marked by substance abuse and domestic violence, Lubben stood up and dragged her two companions out of the courtroom, never to return.
Having ostensibly come to learn her boyfriend's fate, Lubben instead fled when her name came up in a negative light -- without learning Valley's fate.
Aggravating factors
Following the family's statements on Sept 28, which were added into the court record, Judge Sheltzer announced that he would need time to consider the fact that there had been no mitigating factors in the case but several aggravating ones: Valley was on probation at the time of the crash; his probation performance "had been unsatisfactory"; and Valley had failed to stop and render aid to Mr. Munguia or even call 911 to seek help for the man who lay dying on the side of the road because of him.
Judge Sheltzer re-scheduled sentencing in the case for 8:30 am on Oct. 12, and assured the victim's family that under no circumstances would the sentence be any less than nine years, but possibly more after his research on sentencing in similar cases had been completed.
Today we learned that a prison sentence of 11 years was more appropriate for the crime.
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| On May 18, 2018, Shelley Lubben (seen here with Joe Valley in 2016) turned 50 years old. Hers was one of the most turbulent and corrosive half-centuries in the life of any modern-day public figure. |
Questions still remain
Joe Valley's No Contest plea obviated the need for a criminal trial, and with no testimony to be heard by the court, we may never know the full story of exactly what happened on Nov. 7, 2017.
What we do know is that Joe Valley drank at a local bar, The Antlers Roadhouse, some time before the fatal collision with Mr. Munguia, and that witnesses state Valley was already intoxicated when he arrived in his car. It was after he left that his car ran down Munguia.
A blood draw revealed Valley’s blood alcohol content at .26 percent, the District Attorney’s Office said. That was more than three times the legal limit of .08 percent.
But Valley told Highway Patrol investigators he had been drinking at a nearby lake earlier that day, and made no mention of visiting The Antlers.
Could there be anything else Valley left out?
Following the fatal collision, Valley's 2005 PT Cruiser was driven straight home to the property on Balch Park Road where he resided with Lubben. Shortly after his wrecked vehicle returned to the Lubben Ranch, Shelley Lubben got behind the wheel of her Jeep and drove off the property alone.
Lubben then flagged down a neighbor, and told the woman that she was her "witness" that Lubben was leaving home at that time, and then drove off.
This struck the neighbor as odd, and she told an investigator for the victim's family that Shelley Lubben was intoxicated and looked like she hadn't showered in days at the time she flagged her down.
A United Parcel Service driver discovered Mr. Muguia in the road. After witnesses reported seeing a PT Cruiser with a broken windshield and significant front end damage, the UPS driver directed law enforcement to a nearby house where a PT Cruiser was normally parked: the Lubben Ranch.
Highway Patrol officers arrested Valley on the ranch property, and took him to jail. But because Lubben had already left, they were initially unable to interview her.
It wasn't until the following morning that Highway Patrol got a statement from Shelley Lubben -- under circumstances that were objectively suspicious.
It turned out that Mrs. Lubben's iPhone was in the car that killed Octavio Munguia.
The presence of Lubben's cell phone in the vehicle was discovered after the wrecked PT Cruiser had been brought to Wallace Towing on Orange Belt Drive in Porterville.
It was there that Shelley Lubben was interviewed by the California Highway Patrol, when she came to retrieve her iPhone on November 8.
What we do know is that Joe Valley drank at a local bar, The Antlers Roadhouse, some time before the fatal collision with Mr. Munguia, and that witnesses state Valley was already intoxicated when he arrived in his car. It was after he left that his car ran down Munguia.
A blood draw revealed Valley’s blood alcohol content at .26 percent, the District Attorney’s Office said. That was more than three times the legal limit of .08 percent.
But Valley told Highway Patrol investigators he had been drinking at a nearby lake earlier that day, and made no mention of visiting The Antlers.
Could there be anything else Valley left out?
Following the fatal collision, Valley's 2005 PT Cruiser was driven straight home to the property on Balch Park Road where he resided with Lubben. Shortly after his wrecked vehicle returned to the Lubben Ranch, Shelley Lubben got behind the wheel of her Jeep and drove off the property alone.
Lubben then flagged down a neighbor, and told the woman that she was her "witness" that Lubben was leaving home at that time, and then drove off.
This struck the neighbor as odd, and she told an investigator for the victim's family that Shelley Lubben was intoxicated and looked like she hadn't showered in days at the time she flagged her down.
A United Parcel Service driver discovered Mr. Muguia in the road. After witnesses reported seeing a PT Cruiser with a broken windshield and significant front end damage, the UPS driver directed law enforcement to a nearby house where a PT Cruiser was normally parked: the Lubben Ranch.
Highway Patrol officers arrested Valley on the ranch property, and took him to jail. But because Lubben had already left, they were initially unable to interview her.
It wasn't until the following morning that Highway Patrol got a statement from Shelley Lubben -- under circumstances that were objectively suspicious.
It turned out that Mrs. Lubben's iPhone was in the car that killed Octavio Munguia.
The presence of Lubben's cell phone in the vehicle was discovered after the wrecked PT Cruiser had been brought to Wallace Towing on Orange Belt Drive in Porterville.
It was there that Shelley Lubben was interviewed by the California Highway Patrol, when she came to retrieve her iPhone on November 8.
If Shelley Lubben -- who a witness stated was intoxicated at the time of Mr. Munguia's death -- hadn't been in the vehicle, then what was her cell phone doing in the car that killed Mr. Munguia?
Now that Joe Valley has been convicted and sentenced to prison for Gross Vehicular Manslaughter, we may never know the answer.
UPDATE: Joseph Michael Valley was transferred to Avenal State Prison on October 23, 2018. He is not eligible for parole until May 2023.
RIP Shelly!
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