The nurse charged with killing six in a fiery 130 mph crash in Los Angeles has been denied bail, the Post has learned.
Nicole Linton appeared before a Los Angeles judge Monday morning but the judge denied a motion to let her out of the city’s Twin Towers Correctional Facility in order to seek treatment at a psychiatric hospital.
The traveling nurse will remain in custody under a “no bail” hold and will appear again in court for an arraignment Monday afternoon where she will plead not guilty, her attorney Jacqueline Sparanga told The Post.
“We are disappointed with the judge’s ruling,” Sparanga said. “We believe that a psychiatric lock-down hospital— where Nicole would not have been able to simply walk out— is the most appropriate place for her to remain pending this case. There’s no question here that this is a mental illness-related car accident, and she should be housed at a psychiatric facility where she can receive treatment and undergo the testing necessary to determine what actually happened.”
Prosecutors claim data shows Linton floored her car for at least five seconds before speeding into the intersection of La Brea and Slauson avenues on Aug. 4. at 122 to 130 mph, smashing into multiple cars and leading to six counts of murder and five counts of vehicular manslaughter against her.
Among the dead were Asherey Ryan, who was pregnant, alongside her 11-month-old son Allonzo, and her boyfriend, Reynold Lester. The family was reportedly heading to a prenatal checkup at the time of the collision.
Linton’s attorneys argued in their Aug. 29 bail motion the nurse lost consciousness as she drove her Mercedes into several cars, triggered by her bipolar disorder or a seizure. They asked that Linton be released with conditions so that she could be evaluated at the UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.
However, prosecutors claimed a psychiatric evaluation showed no indication of a seizure and the vehicle’s data and surveillance video indicated she had “complete control over steering,” adding “This NASCAR-worthy performance flies in the face of the notion that she was unconscious or incapacitated.”
Sparanga told The Post she will be asking another judge at a different hearing to sign an order allowing Linton to be moved to a hospital for mental health testing.
“We think she has bipolar disorder, and if she has something else, she needs to be properly tested and treated for it,” Sparanga said.