Olivia Carolee Culbreath, right, of Fontana, speaks in January with defense attorney Kelly Sheahen Gerner. The attorneys who provided the photo have since been fined
POMONA >> A judge on Wednesday fined two defense attorneys representing a Fontana woman accused of causing the death of six people during a wrong-way crash in Diamond Bar.
Attorneys Robert Sheahen and Daniel R. Perlman were sanctioned in connection with the release of photographs of their client, Olivia Carolee Culbreath, in a courtroom following a hearing, said their lawyer, Mark Daniel Melnick.
At least one of the photos appeared in this newspaper.
Pomona Superior Court Judge Thomas C. Falls had denied media requests to allow photography in court.
The photos, taken in January, showed Culbreath in Pomona Superior Court speaking with Kelly Sheahen Gerner, a member of her defense team, with members of the public in the background.
Falls did not level a fine against Sheahen Gerner but he did sanction the two other members of the attorney team.
Perlman was fined $500, payable to the courts within 90 days, and Sheahen was fined $750, to be paid within 60 days.
Sheahen said after Wednesday’s hearing he had no comment.
Culbreath, 22, pleaded not guilty to six counts of murder at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Courts Center in Los Angeles in February.
Culbreath is accused of driving a Chevrolet Camaro east on the westbound 60 Freeway at speeds approaching 100 mph on Feb. 9, 2014.
Culbreath was allegedly involved in a wrong way, head-on crash around 4:45 a.m. in Diamond Bar, the California Highway Patrol said.
The Camaro crashed head-on into a sport utility vehicle. Subsequently, another vehicle crashed into the SUV, the CHP said.
Six people died as a result of the crash.
Two women in Culbreath’s car died. One woman was Culbreath’s sister, Maya, 24, of Rialto, and the other was Kristin Melissa Young, 21, of Chino.
Four Huntington Park residents who were thrown from the SUV also died. They were identified as Gregorio Mejia-Martinez, 47, Leticia Ibarra, 42, Jessica Jasmine Mejia, 20, and Ester Delgado, 80