A judge on Wednesday found probable cause for charges of vehicular homicide and causing a fatal accident against Carlos Fierro.

The decision came at the end of a two-day hearing in which state District Judge Michael Vigil listened to witnesses, police officers and others who saw or responded to the Nov. 26 incident in which William Tenorio was fatally struck by Fierro's car as he tried to cross Guadalupe Street on foot.

Fierro, a lawyer who has been involved in government work, is scheduled to stand trial sometime during the first three weeks of July. However, Fierro's attorney, Robert Gorence, told the judge he plans to file a motion within about a month in an effort to move the trial out of Santa Fe, which could render moot that trial date.

Before the judge made his ruling, he heard a second day of testimony from witnesses called by prosecutors. The most dramatic testimony of the day was provided by two men who saw Fierro's black BMW strike Tenorio, a San Felipe Pueblo father of three, just before 2 a.m.

David Segarra, a local waiter and carpenter, testified that he had arrived at WilLee's Blues Club about 1 a.m. Nov. 26. It was reggae night at the bar, he said, and it was "packed" with people.

Segarra said he spoke with Tenorio — whom he described as a large, friendly man — just before Segarra left the bar. Segarra said he told Tenorio he was looking for work and told Tenorio he was a carpenter. Tenorio, in turn, said he occasionally did work on "the pueblos" and Segarra said he offered to buy him a beer. Tenorio declined, he said.

"As far as I could tell, he hadn't been drinking at all," said Segarra, who added that he had consumed three beers himself throughout the course of the night.

Soon after, Segarra left WilLee's and began walking north on Guadalupe Street. Between Montezuma Avenue and Aztec Street, Segarra — who was walking alongside another man he didn't know — saw a southbound black BMW hit a median in Guadalupe Street, popping tires on the car, he said. The BMW was going 10 to 15 mph at the time, Segarra said.

He said he turned to the man he was walking with and commented that the car — which he thought was "nice" — had just gotten "messed up." Segarra then watched the car as it continued south and sped up. He said he had a feeling the driver didn't want to stick around after hitting the median.

He said he then saw the car hit Tenorio, who flew 4 to 5 feet into the air, somersaulted and landed on the asphalt. The BMW kept going, Segarra said. Segarra ran to Tenorio, who was lying in the street, his body contorted and his breathing "bubbly," with a large pool of blood forming under his head. Segarra said he touched Tenorio's shoulder to see if he was conscious, discovered he wasn't, then took off his hooded sweat shirt and placed it over Tenorio.

Sol Bentley, a local DJ who had played at WilLee's that night, was standing in front of WilLee's at about the same time, helping the bouncer coax people into leaving for the night. He said he heard a loud "pop" from up the road to the north, and looked up to see a car traveling south with no headlights and spewing sparks from wheels with blown tires.

Bentley said as the car came toward him, the light at Guadalupe and Montezuma streets began to change from yellow to red, and the BMW accelerated. He said Tenorio was walking backward across the street at the time, and appeared to wave at someone or hold up a piece of paper or a phone.

The BMW struck Tenorio "head-on, pretty much," Bentley said, and Tenorio flew into the air. "It looked like somebody had thrown a doll in the air," he said.

After the impact, the BMW slowed to a rolling stop, he said. Bentley, who was about 60 feet from the car at the time, said he ran toward the car, yelling at the top of his lungs for the driver to stop because he'd just hit a person. When he was about 10 feet away from the car, the driver hit the accelerator, jumped a median and took a left on Read Street, he said. Bentley said he chased the car but couldn't get a license number because the car's lights were off.

Bentley said he hadn't been drinking that night and doesn't use drugs.

Fierro has told police and others that he and his passenger at the time of the crash — former state police Sgt. Alfred Lovato — had been drinking at WilLee's before the crash. He said they had left after other patrons, who knew Lovato was a police officer, tried to start a fight with him.

Bentley and others working at the bar that night testified that they hadn't seen or heard of any altercations that night.

Luana Berger, a field investigator for the Office of the Medical Investigator who examined Tenorio, said the 46-year-old man suffered multiple skull fractures and rib fractures and had deep lacerations to his neck, which were likely caused by the BMW's windshield.

Police have said Tenorio's blood-alcohol content was 0.14 at the time he was hit. He was wearing dark clothing at the time, witnesses said. Fierro's blood-alcohol content was later found to be 0.21, well over double the legal limit for driving.

Others who testified Wednesday included employees of Rio Chama Steakhouse, where Fierro and Lovato drank alcohol for about four hours before going to WilLee's.

Jeff Jinnett, president of the company that owns Rio Chama, said Fierro and Lovato's bar tab that night included one Tanqueray gin and tonic, a Crown Royal whiskey and Diet Coke, four shots of Crown Royal neat, seven draft beers — including two 22-ounce glasses and five 16-ounce glasses — and three Coors Light beers. Fierro drank Coors Light and Crown Royal that night, according to the waiter who served them. Another man who joined Fierro and Lovato for about three hours at the Humidor cigar bar area of the Rio Chama testified that he drank only one draft beer.

None of the restaurant or bar employees who testified to encountering Fierro and Lovato that night said either of the two men appeared intoxicated.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.