No one disputes the death of Erik Rydeen was a tragedy. The 18-year-old Marine, who had just finished boot camp, was sitting in the back seat of a 1995 Jeep driven by his best friend in February when the vehicle missed a sharp turn on County Road 56 and flipped.

However, a decision by the District Attorney's Office to charge both the driver and the passenger with vehicular homicide not only adds insult to injury, it is almost unheard of, according to defense lawyers involved in the case.

"We're befuddled," said attorney Steve Aarons. "How can they be charging the passenger?"

Said Molly Schmidt-Nowara, another defense attorney, "No one has ever seen this before."

On Friday, Kiefer Jennings, who was driving the Jeep, and his girlfriend, Jennifer Hairr, pleaded not guilty to the homicide charges. Jennings is also charged with causing great bodily injury by vehicle. Patrick Jennings, Kiefer Jennings' father, pleaded not guilty last month to two counts of giving alcohol to minors for allegedly providing alcohol to the underage trio before the accident.

Linda Lonsdale, deputy district attorney, said Friday that when the owner of a vehicle — in this case, Hairr — allows another person to drive who the owner knows has been drinking alcohol and that person crashes and kills another person riding in the car, then the vehicle owner is an accessory to a crime and can be charged as such. Lonsdale likened the arrangement to a getaway driver in a bank robbery.

Kiefer Jennings — who had just turned 20 at the time of the accident — had a blood alcohol content of .04 when hospital personnel took blood from him three hours after the accident, Lonsdale said. Minors are not allowed to have any alcohol in their systems, she said.

Attorney Tom Clark, who is representing Kiefer Jennings, said the DA's decision creates criminal responsibility for what is essentially negligent behavior. "It creates a passive liability," he said.

Schmidt-Nowara, who represents Hairr along with attorney John Day, said that going by the DA's logic, Patrick Jennings should also have been charged with vehicular homicide. "It's like charging the victim of domestic violence with being an accomplice to their own battery," she said.

Day questioned Lonsdale's use of the bank robbery analogy, saying the role of a getaway driver requires that the driver agree to the conspiracy to rob the bank.

"It all comes down to intent," Day said. "There has to be intent to cause a fatal wreck for the passenger to be charged with vehicular homicide."

Day and Schmidt-Nowara said evidence shows that Hairr — who is now 21 — was not intoxicated at the time of the crash. Lonsdale disputed that statement.

"It's a bizarre and troubling effort by the DA's Office to put innocent people behind bars," Day said.

Lonsdale also disputed the lawyers' contention that charging a passenger with vehicular homicide is unusual. "I guess they don't get around much," she said.

Rydeen grew up next door to the Jennings and was a close friend of both Kiefer Jennings and Hairr, Clark said. Patrick Jennings thought of Rydeen — who was set to leave the day after the accident for combat training in California — as a son, Clark said. None of the three charged in the case has a criminal history, the lawyer said.

Aarons, who represents Patrick Jennings, said he and the other lawyers believe no one involved in the case should have been charged. "There's no benefit to be gained from prosecuting them," he said. "It's basically sober people who had a car accident."

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