Mercurio pleads guilty to felony DUI

A 22-year-old Clayton woman, charged with a felony DUI after hitting and critically injuring a motorcyclist last year appeared in a Martinez courtroom last week where she changed her plea from not guilty to guilty and was sentenced to three years in state prison.
Jessica Mercurio, then 21, was driving with a blood alcohol nearly four times the legal limit on June 27, 2013, when she lost control of her Toyota Corolla on Clayton Road at the Oak Street ramp. She jumped the median, crossing into the eastbound lane where she hit 51-year-old Mark Tomaszewski head on before crashing into a light pole in front of Clayton City Hall. Witnesses at the scene say they overheard her tell officers she was texting on her phone at the time of the crash.
According to witnesses, Mercurio had been drinking heavily most of the day. Clayton Club owner Steve Barton said his bartender had stopped serving her alcohol and offered to call her a taxi more than an hour before she left the bar. A patron in the bar offered to give her a ride home. She refused both offers, saying she already had a ride.
“She sat out in front for over 45 minutes on her cell phone,” Barton said. “And then she left. As far as anyone inside knew, she left with a ride.” Surveillance video shows her getting into her car and driving off.
The sentencing was an emotional moment for Tomaszewski, who was in the courtroom, but did not address the court. Mercurio had prepared a statement but declined to read it. Instead, she gave it to Tomaszewski. She apologized and expressed a determination to use her time in prison to “become a better woman.” She asked for his forgiveness and requested a meeting with him.
Tomaszewski was critically injured in the crash, suffering multiple internal injuries, broken bones and head trauma. He lost the sight in his left eye and is deaf in one ear. He was hospitalized for five months before his release last October, continuing therapy as an outpatient. In June, a year after the crash, he returned to his job as a surgical technician at the Sequoia Surgery Center in Walnut Creek.
Tomaszewski has agreed to meet with Mercurio before she surrenders on July 25.
“I want to encourage her to use her time in jail to get her education so she is ready to go in a positive direction when she gets out. She’s still young.” He hopes she will be a positive influence on others.
“People drive drunk a lot and nothing happens,” Tomaszewski said. “And people drive drunk and extreme things happen. This time, something extreme happened.”