P.G. man loses appeal, but gets sentence reduced for two DUI deaths in Pebble Beach.

Stuart Elder, 34, has spent the past two-plus years in prison, serving a 13-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter and driving under the influence, in connection to a crash that left two women dead and his passenger seriously injured.

In a decision Wednesday, the Sixth District Court of Appeal in San Jose upheld Elder's conviction, but ruled that his 13-year sentence should be reduced to 11 years, and sent the case back to Monterey County Superior Court for re-sentencing.

"I had hoped for more, but every little bit helps," says attorney Michael Lukehart, who represented Elder, a Pacific Grove builder, in the criminal trial. "We're gratified to get the sentence reduced."

Charles M. Bonneau, the attorney who represented Elder in the appeal, says he didn't expect to prevail in other aspects of the case at this stage, and the focus was on the two-year portion of the sentence that he successfully argued was a double sentence for the same element of the crime.

"The one issue we were focused on was the double punishment for the same aspect of the case," Bonneau says. "The issue that we won on was the one we were concerned with."

That issue: That in sentencing, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Pamela Butler gave Elder two years more that California law allows.

The appellate decision was written by Justice Adrienne Grover, formerly a Monterey County Superior Court judge.

A jury in 2015 found Elder guilty of manslaughter, driving under the influence and causing great bodily injury in a devastating April 2013 accident that killed Linda Larone, 65, and Sharon Daly, 72, both of Pebble Beach.

Elder's passenger, Selvia Gattas, who was 20 at the time of the accident, was also seriously injured in the crash.

He was on the narrow, two-lane Sloat Road, with a 25 mph speed limit and was going at more than 70 mph when his Cadillac Escalade veered into the the left lane, colliding with LaRone and Daly.

Elder had been drinking wine that night, and his alcohol level was .17, over twice the legal limit.

Elder appealed the conviction itself on several grounds, mostly technical in nature. He argued Butler erred in denying a motion his attorney filed that would have suppressed his blood-alcohol chemical test results to be presented at trial, and in excluding evidence showing the blood-alcohol level of the deceased driver. (Tests showed Daly's blood-alcohol level was .07, compared to Elder's .17.)

In the appeal, Elder also argued that Butler unjustly blocked a motion that would have produced records connected to other collisions at the same Pebble Beach location, and that Butler gave improper instructions to the jury.

The appellate court upheld the conviction, and denied these elements of Elder's appeal.

Elder is currently housed in the California Men's Colony, a minimum- and medium-security prison located in San Luis Obispo.