Josh Klinghoffer, the former guitarist of Red Hot Chili Peppers, has accepted a no-jail plea deal after being charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence in September 2024 for allegedly driving over and killing pedestrian Israel Sanchez in Alhambra, California. Klinghoffer originally pleaded not guilty through his lawyer, Blair Bernholz Berk, when the charges were first filed. Pitchfork has reached out to lawyers for Klinghoffer and Sanchez’s family for comment.
When appearing in the courtroom on Wednesday (May 28), Klinghoffer pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. Los Angeles County Judge Rosa Fregoso sentenced the musician to one year of informal probation and 60 days of community labor, as well as requiring him to complete a driver safety class and pay restitution, the amount of which will be determined at a later date.
After Klinghoffer entered the plea, a prosecutor read a statement warning him about distracted driving again in the future: “If you continue to drive while distracted, and as a result of your driving someone is killed, you can be charged with murder.” Klinghoffer said that he understood, reports Rolling Stone.
In July 2024, Sanchez’s family sued Klinghoffer for wrongful death and negligence, claiming that the 47-year-old man was struck by the musician’s car when he failed to yield at a crosswalk in the March 18 accident, resulting in Sanchez’s death hours later due to blunt-force trauma to the head. The lawsuit claimed that Klinghoffer was on his phone while driving the SUV, and that no arrest was initially made in the incident despite camera footage.
Klinghoffer’s attorney in the civil case, Andrew B. Brettler, called it “a tragic accident” in a statement to Pitchfork. “After the car struck the pedestrian, Josh immediately pulled over, stopped the vehicle, called 911, and waited until police and the ambulance arrived. He is fully cooperating with the traffic investigation,” said Brettler.
The Sanchez family’s attorney, Nick Rowley, told Variety that “Mr. Klinghoffer should be arrested and prosecuted for homicide.” Rowley continued: “We have a video of him on his cell phone at the time he hit and killed Israel Sanchez, a loving father, in a crosswalk. Israel Sanchez was on his way to the grocery store to make soup for his family and never came home. He did everything right, looking for oncoming traffic and abiding by pedestrian signage, but tragically Mr. Klinghoffer, in a rush and on his phone, hit him fatally from behind with a large SUV. The loss and grief that the Sanchez family now faces is immense. We will not stop until there is accountability and justice for Mr. Sanchez and his family.”
Klinghoffer played guitar with the Red Hot Chili Peppers from 2009 to 2019, when he was replaced by returning member John Frusciante. Klinghoffer was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the band in 2012, making him the youngest inductee ever at the time. Since leaving the band, he performed as a touring member of Jane’s Addiction before their abrupt breakup, and remains an active touring guitarist in Pearl Jam.