Former RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS Guitarist JOSH KLINGHOFFER Pleads "Not Guilty" To Vehicular Manslaughter

Rolling Stone is reporting that Josh Klinghoffer, the former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist who went on to play for Pearl Jam and others, pleaded “not guilty” to a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence in a California courtroom Thursday (September 26).

Klinghoffer did not attend the hearing in person but entered the plea through his lawyer, Blair Berk. The criminal charge, filed quietly in August, stems from a deadly crash on March 18, 2024, in the city of Alhambra, just east of Los Angeles. Klinghoffer, 44, was driving a black 2022 GMC Yukon when his vehicle struck pedestrian Israel Sanchez in a crosswalk. Sanchez, 47, was pronounced dead at a hospital later that day from blunt force trauma.

Sanchez’s family filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against Klinghoffer in July, claiming he was on his cellphone and driving a car with no plates when the incident occurred. The lawsuit claims video suggest Klinghoffer “was likely driving while distracted” and that he “made no braking or slowing motion until after he fatally struck” Sanchez.

Further details can be found at RollingStone.com.