Munguia v. Lubben is the kind of case that can net a multi-million dollar judgement in California.
Visalia, Calif. -- The family of cyclist Octavio Munguia, who was killed in a DUI hit-and-run collision with Shelley Lubben's car while her boyfriend Joe Valley was behind the wheel, has sued the couple for wrongful death in Tulare County Superior Court.
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| Shelley Lubben and Joe Valley on the road |
A death on the highway
On November 7, 2017, Joe Valley left the home he shared with disgraced anti-porn crusader Shelley Lubben in a PT Cruiser she had purchased, and insured through USAA. Official reports and local sources say Valley was out running errands for Lubben, and was supposed to attend his court-ordered Domestic Violence class.
What he accomplished that day is not known, but what we do know is that he drank at a local bar, The Antlers Roadhouse, and witnesses state Valley was already intoxicated when he arrived in his car.
It was after he left that his car ran down Munguia on Balch Park Road south of Battle Mountain Road.
Valley told Highway Patrol investigators he had been drinking at a Lake Success earlier that day, but made no specific mention of visiting The Antlers (which stands near the lake's northeastern edge).
Following the fatal collision, Valley drove the 2005 PT Cruiser 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.
Highway Patrol officers arrested Valley on Lubben's ranch property, and took him to jail. But because she had already left, they were unable to interview Lubben, who had driven to a friend's house.
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 one of Mrs. Lubben's iPhones 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 he accomplished that day is not known, but what we do know is that he drank at a local bar, The Antlers Roadhouse, and witnesses state Valley was already intoxicated when he arrived in his car.
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| The Antlers |
It was after he left that his car ran down Munguia on Balch Park Road south of Battle Mountain Road.
Valley told Highway Patrol investigators he had been drinking at a Lake Success earlier that day, but made no specific mention of visiting The Antlers (which stands near the lake's northeastern edge).
Following the fatal collision, Valley drove the 2005 PT Cruiser 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.
Highway Patrol officers arrested Valley on Lubben's ranch property, and took him to jail. But because she had already left, they were unable to interview Lubben, who had driven to a friend's house.
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 one of Mrs. Lubben's iPhones 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.
On October 12, 2018, Joe Valley was sentenced to 11 years in a California state prison for Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated and Leaving the Scene of an Accident in the criminal case of the DUI hit-and-run killing of Mr. Munguia.
The following screenshots come from the Tulare County Superior Court website.
The following file copy of the Summons and Complaint is dated February 2018, so perhaps the family re-filed in September.
It asserts (accurately) that Shelley Lubben entrusted her vehicle to Valley. In this instance, Valley was running errands for Lubben. He also had a history of driving while intoxicated, of which Lubben was well aware.
The Munguias' suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
USAA is representing the indigent, incarcerated Valley.
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| Joe Valley in his November 2017 mugshot |
