My ex had clients that were retired and enjoying life. They were stopped for a light on a 35 mph road. A drunk driver, who was speeding in excess of 120 mph hit them. The car went airborne and ended up wrapped around a tree on the passenger side. The woman died at the scene. Her son was alerted that something was wrong by the Apple watch his dad was wearing. He got to the scene of the accident in time to watch his mother die.
His dad survived but has a broken back - and now a broken heart because his wife died. The idiot was charged with second degree murder, DUI, driving with an open container of alcohol and…driving on a suspended license. I’m going to guess it’s suspended due to drunk driving.
Second degree murder carries a sentence of 9 to 41 years. If he serves the maximum sentence, he will be the same age as the woman he killed. He should serve the maximum. A suspended license didn’t keep him from driving a car and he chose to drive over 100 mph on a city street. I hope the city doesn’t offer any plea deals to this guy. I think he’d easily lose the murder case. Oh yeah…and as it seems is usually the case -the accident happened at 5:30 and he was released from the hospital at 8:30. These idiots always seem to walk away,.
Several years ago a judge over here was forced into retirement because he released on signature bond a habitual suspended license driver against the advice of the Prosecutor and Probation and Parole and that guy killed someone driving less than a week later.
Drunk driving is one of those things where I have mixed feelings. Obviously, this one is in serious trouble. In general, I think a DUI can serve as a wakeup call, so I’m open to second chances. I’m pretty harsh on the possibility of 3rd chances. Seems if you get a DUI after already getting one, you have a problem that needs to be addressed.
THis guy had a suspended license. I’m gonna guess it was DUI. He was also on a street (that I used almost daily) and the speed limit was 35. He was driving in excess of 100 mph. Hard to give this guy any more chances.
IMO anyone can fuck up once and should get a second chance. It could be a habitual drunk driver that finally gets caught or someone who doesn’t drink often having an extra wine with dinner.
The point I am making is that if I get pulled over a block from my house with a .08, my punishment is the same as the guy who gets pulled over on the highway and blow a .15.
And .08 isn’t based on science, it is based on lobbying by MADD