Gabrielle Nestande shows up to her Dec. 7 hearing for charges of failing to stop and render aid (Chris Nelson/KXAN)

Nestande trial to begin in February

Ex-Capitol staffer arraigned on new charges

Updated: Friday, 26 Oct 2012, 6:48 PM CDT
Published : Friday, 26 Oct 2012, 10:28 AM CDT

Erin Cargile

AUSTIN (KXAN) - New evidence in the deadly hit and run case has pushed the Gabrielle Nestande trial back to February. The prosecutor says it could prove the former Capitol staffer was drunk when she killed Courtney Griffin.

"Sometimes when we are getting ready for trial, we take a fresh look at things and talk to people who haven't been talked to before and come across one person who leads us to other people," said Assistant District Attorney Allison Wetzel.

Nestande, 25, was notified of the new date in a Travis County courtroom Friday after she was arraigned on charges of manslaughter and intoxicated manslaughter. Earlier this week, a grand jury indicted the former Capitol staffer on the new second-degree felony charges. Each one carries a maximum sentence of up to twenty years in prison.

"This is a day we've been looking for since Courtney was killed," said Bart Griffin, Courtney's father. "We knew she was out drinking the night before. We had strong feelings there needed to be more charges."

The new trial date will allow attorneys on both sides to prepare with the new evidence. Nestande's trial on the failure to stop and render aid charge was supposed to start next week.

Since the accident in May 2011, the Griffin family has been very vocal about harsher penalties when it comes to these types of incidents. Members of Griffin's family attended Friday's hearing.

Members of the Mark Gobble family were also at the hearing to offer support to the Griffin family. Gobble, 38, was killed while jogging in June by a driver who left the scene on Slaughter Lane.

"Our family learned about the Griffin's plight and just felt a kinship and wanted to make an alliance with them," said Jackson Busenbark, Gobble's brother-in-law.

They want to join the fight to get tougher penalties for suspects who leave the scene of an accident. The suspect in the Gobble case is only facing a charge of failure to stop and render aid. The case is expected to be presented to a grand jury in a couple of months.

Opinions that are derogatory, attack other users or are offensive in nature may be removed. KXAN is not responsible for the content posted in this comment section. We reserve the right to remove any offensive or off-topic remark or thread. To mark a comment for review by a moderator, click "Report Abuse."