City council candidate Hector Marin due for sentencing Wednesday for driving with a suspended license following 2024 DUI

Santa Cruz City Council candidate Hector Marin was arrested in Santa Clara County in March 2024 for misdemeanor driving under the influence, Lookout has learned. He was cited later that year for driving with a suspended license in Santa Cruz, another misdemeanor, and is due for sentencing on Wednesday morning on that charge.

Marin, 28, is an English language development and special education teacher at Harbor High School. He is running for the District 4 Santa Cruz City Council seat against incumbent Scott Newsome. Marin did not respond to attempts to reach him by phone and email on Tuesday.

A jury trial for the DUI took place in Santa Clara County Superior Court in early December 2024.

According to documents filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer, Alma Solorio, was a passenger in a vehicle traveling northbound on Highway 17 in Santa Clara County at 9:30 p.m. on March 28, 2024, when she noticed a gray Honda Civic that appeared unable to stay in its lane. She testified that the car was crossing over into the adjacent lane, along with “erratic braking on various occasions when there was no vehicle ahead of the Honda and fluctuating speeds from 50 to 75 miles per hour.” The car she was in followed the Honda Civic as it went to Interstate 280 and then Highway 87. She called dispatch to report a possible alcohol-impaired driver, according to court documents, presumably because she was off-duty.

Upon cross-examination, Solorio testified that she could not see the driver nor could she tell the driver’s sex, and added that the pattern of driving could mean the driver was tired or distracted, according to court documents, and that observing the vehicle itself did not give her enough information to determine the driver was under the influence. She later testified on redirect examination that she observed more than 10 weaves, and that the driving showed more than “one or two weaves ‘For someone possibly picking up their phone or taking a bite out of a burger,’” which is what led her to conclude that the driver was possibly impaired.

CHP officer Noel Iniguez testified that he responded to the dispatch call and located Marin’s vehicle after it exited from Highway 87. Marin was the only person in the car, and Iniguez identified Marin during the trial, saying he had “red watery eyes and slurred speech,” and that he smelled of alcohol during the traffic stop, according to court documents. 

Iniguez said that Marin said he’d had only half a glass of wine, and began drinking between 3 and 4 p.m. and stopped at 5 p.m. Marin also said he had been up since 5 a.m. that day and had not eaten since noon. The officer testified that Marin failed a field sobriety test and that a preliminary alcohol screening test showed a blood alcohol content level of 0.089 at 10:05 p.m. and 0.098 at 10:07 p.m. Marin was then arrested. A different breath test showed that Marin’s blood alcohol level was between 0.11 at 10:43 p.m. and 0.12 at 10:47 p.m., according to court documents. In California, it is illegal to drive if you have a blood alcohol content of 0.08% or higher if you are over 21 years old.

Upon cross-examination, Iniguez testified that Marin’s vehicle did not crash into or touch the nearby curb, and that Marin was cooperative. He also said that upon further inspection he noticed the car door handle was closed with a rope and that he had initially thought it was slightly ajar. Iniguez told Marin only that he was stopping him for a welfare check, according to court documents, and did not tell him that he noticed the door slightly open and that his brake light was out. He also said that a door possibly swinging open could cause a driver to be distracted, and that Marin said he was nervous to drive on the highway due to an issue with his battery.

Marin was found guilty of driving under the influence and driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08% or more. He was placed on three years’ court probation and ordered to serve eight days in jail, with five days of credit due to completing a sheriff’s work program. He also was ordered to complete a three-month first offender program. Marin appealed the case, but the judgment was affirmed. It is not clear if Marin was held in custody overnight following his arrest, or if he served any jail time following the trial.

On Oct. 8, 2024, Marin was cited in Santa Cruz for driving with a suspended license. A citation filed in Santa Cruz County Superior Court gives only “red light” as the reason for the stop. Marin pleaded no contest. This case is the reason he is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for a sentencing hearing. Court documents show that he was recently enrolled in a “drinking driving program.” He had been eligible to get his driver’s license back as of April 18.

Marin has had a previous run-in with the law. In 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida, he was charged with indecent exposure and resisting an officer without violence. The former charge was dropped, however. He was ultimately ordered to pay $373 in court fees. 

Marin told Lookout in 2022 that the incident was the result of a “mental health episode” due to a bad psilocybin mushroom trip. He said then that the incident illustrates the need for community-based teams who can respond to mental health crises and other nonviolent incidents.

The primary election is on June 2.

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