THOUSAND OAKS : Woman Sentenced in Traffic Death

A Thousand Oaks woman who was convicted of vehicular manslaughter in the death of a motorcyclist has been sentenced to 240 days of community service and ordered to pay $4,629 in hospital and funeral costs, authorities said Friday.

Municipal Judge Thomas Hutchins also sentenced Michiko Dettloff, 40, to three years probation.

The judge rejected the probation officer’s recommendation that Dettloff serve the maximum sentence of one year in jail because “it isn’t going to bring back the life of David Benson,” Deputy. Dist. Atty. Jacqueline Perrin said.

Benson, 50, of Woodland Hills was riding his motorcycle eastbound on Newbury Road when Dettloff, who was driving her car westbound, turned left in front of him and the two vehicles collided.

“We claimed it wasn’t her fault,” said Dettloff’s attorney, Bruce Jones of Westlake Village. “We had established her right of way and the jury differed. . . . I think she’s an innocent person. I think it was simply an accident.”

Benson died shortly after the accident at Los Robles Regional Medical Center.

Dettloff feels “devastated, absolutely devastated” about Benson’s death, Jones said.

Perrin said it took the jury less than an hour to find that Dettloff had violated the vehicle code by failing to yield the right of way as she turned left.

But, Perrin said, “she didn’t have the intent to actually kill him,” so she agreed with Jones that a jail sentence was not appropriate.

Benson’s family has filed a Superior Court civil lawsuit against Dettloff, seeking damages for his death and loss of his future wages, Jones said.