Josh Klinghoffer, the former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist who has played for Pearl Jam and others, pleaded “not guilty” to a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence in a California courtroom on Thursday.
Klinghoffer did not attend the hearing in person but entered his guilty plea through his attorney, Blair Burke. The criminal charge, which was quietly filed in August, stems from a fatal crash that occurred on March 18, 2024, in Alhambra, just east of Los Angeles. Klinghoffer, 44, was driving a black 2022 GMC Yukon when his vehicle struck pedestrian Israel Sanchez in a crosswalk. Sanchez, 47, was pronounced dead at a hospital later that day from blunt force trauma.
Sanchez’s family filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against Klinghoffer in July, alleging he was talking on his cellphone and driving an unlicensed car when the crash occurred. The lawsuit alleges that video footage shows Klinghoffer “was likely distracted driving” and that he “failed to brake or slow down until after he fatally struck Sanchez.”
A source familiar with the investigation says: Rolling Stone “There is no alleged criminal intent” and a review of the evidence has shown “no phone was involved,” an attorney representing Sanchez’s family says. Rolling Stone Attorney Grayson Yoder said after Thursday's hearing that Klinghoffer had walked past the business “seconds” before the crash and “appeared to be holding a phone.”
“If they had exculpatory evidence, it was never presented to us,” Yoder says. Rolling Stone“All I can see is what I see in the video. If he says he wasn’t on his phone, that’s fine. But in the middle of the day, he was coming to an intersection and there were no brake lights on his car, nothing, until he hit a guy in the crosswalk. I’m skeptical of the evidence that would exonerate him, and I can’t speak to the prosecutor and his charges, but at the end of the day, in broad daylight, he had multiple opportunities for this not to have happened. There’s no other word to describe it besides negligence. We’re alleging gross negligence.”
“I miss my dad,” Sanchez’s daughter, Ashley Sanchez, said after the hearing. “We’re looking for justice here. I don’t know why Josh is being sentenced for just a misdemeanor. It’s not good. My dad was a great, great father.”
Klinghoffer's criminal case is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 31. The civil case, which seeks damages for medical costs and damages for pain and suffering, has a hearing scheduled for Oct. 18.
“This was a tragic accident,” said Klinghoffer's camp. Rolling Stone In July, Josh immediately stopped his car, called 911, and waited for police and an ambulance to arrive. He is fully cooperating with the traffic investigation.
Klinghoffer has been a well-known name in the alternative rock world for some time. In 2009, he joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers, replacing his friend and guitarist John Frusciante, but the band fired him in 2019 when Frusciante returned. He is currently on tour with Pearl Jam as an additional musician (he also contributed to the band's latest album, Dark matter) He also works with his own band, Pluralone.
