BUTLER, Pa. (AP) - A judge ordered a woman to carry a photo of the man she killed in a head-on collision, and the man's parents complied by sending a picture of him in his casket. Now, her lawyer is crying foul and the family is refusing to provide another picture.
Prosecutors said Jennifer Langston was drunk and talking on a cellphone in June 2002 when she crossed the centre line and hit a pickup carrying teacher Glenn Clark and his pregnant wife, Annette. He died, his wife remains in a coma and their son, born by caesarean section five months after the crash, is being raised by relatives.
Besides vehicular homicide, Langston pleaded guilty in September to reckless endangerment and reckless driving. A judge sentenced her to 30 days in jail, plus house arrest and probation, and ordered her to carry a picture of Clark for five years. Clark's parents gave court officials a photo of their son in his coffin.
At a hearing Wednesday, Langston's lawyer, Michael Sherman, said the "spirit of the agreement" was that the photo be of Clark when he was alive.
"It was very unreasonable and cruel that she was given that picture," Sherman said.
District Attorney Tim McCune agreed to have the family provide a different photo.
But Rosellen Moller, Clark's mother, was unapologetic and said she had no intention of sending another picture.
"I thought it was cruel and unusual to kill my son," she told the Herald in Sharon. "We really didn't have a choice. They wanted me to send a picture of Glenn and I did."
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Prosecutors said Jennifer Langston was drunk and talking on a cellphone in June 2002 when she crossed the centre line and hit a pickup carrying teacher Glenn Clark and his pregnant wife, Annette. He died, his wife remains in a coma and their son, born by caesarean section five months after the crash, is being raised by relatives.
Besides vehicular homicide, Langston pleaded guilty in September to reckless endangerment and reckless driving. A judge sentenced her to 30 days in jail, plus house arrest and probation, and ordered her to carry a picture of Clark for five years. Clark's parents gave court officials a photo of their son in his coffin.
At a hearing Wednesday, Langston's lawyer, Michael Sherman, said the "spirit of the agreement" was that the photo be of Clark when he was alive.
"It was very unreasonable and cruel that she was given that picture," Sherman said.
District Attorney Tim McCune agreed to have the family provide a different photo.
But Rosellen Moller, Clark's mother, was unapologetic and said she had no intention of sending another picture.
"I thought it was cruel and unusual to kill my son," she told the Herald in Sharon. "We really didn't have a choice. They wanted me to send a picture of Glenn and I did."
Full Story from CNEWS