Woman dislikes carrying coffin photo of crash victim, as ordered by court

[southcitymom]

well also a lot of cough syrups do have some alcohol content so that wouldn't work. but you know - i know that myself and others included won't drive at all if we have drank a drop OR taken medication that effects us. my husband and and i won't even taste each others drinks. we're just really against that.

That's awesome, pedinurse. I wish more people did that.

I do think that if the law wanted to be cut and dried on this point, then it could be. There is a lot of personal error that occurs when drinking people try to self judge their level of inebriation.

 

[tricia]

We interrupt this thread for a word from our owner...

Just so you know...I am the only one around here who is officially nuts. Therefore it is a rhetorical question to ask me, "Are you NUTS?"

Now, back to the discussion.

 

[Amraann]

We interrupt this thread for a word from our owner...

Just so you know...I am the only one around here who is officially nuts. Therefore it is a rhetorical question to ask me, "Are you NUTS?"

Now, back to the discussion.

LOLOLOL

Thank you for the laugh!

 

[pedinurse]

So many decisions can factor into a Judge's decision and unless I know them all, I have faith in the Judge.

Circumstances that could have factored in this case: the age of the woman who pled guilty, the circumstances surrounding her being legally drunk and driving (was she blotto or just over the limit and not know it), the fact that she pled, whether or not she had a criminal record for drunk driving or other crimes, her level of remourse, the feelings of the victim's family, restitution paid, whether or not the injured parties contributed in any way to the incident, whether or not she completed an alcohol treatment program and seemed genuinely on the road to rehabilitation.....these are just off the top of my head - there are probably others.

I'm not saying any of these factors (or others I'm not thinking of) were taken into consideration in this case. But if she pled, both the prosecutor and the defense had to be comfortable with what type of punishment would potentionally be levied against her.

I think the sentence is light, but I'm willing to believe that the Court has a better vantage point of the evidence.

i can't tell if she's 30 now (which would make her 25) or when it happened (which would make her 35 now). but i doubt that age was a factor. i think i read in one article that this (the jailtime and parole) was the max (even though the judge did lots of add ons she successfully fought through her good lawyer) because the breathalyzer wasn't within 30 minutes - but i thought that if they did a breathalyzer, that they had to observe that you didn't have anything in your mouth for at least 15 then administer? does anyone know?
i'm not sure of the procedure and how it is done - but it seems like if there is an observation period, 30 minutes is a short window when you have a car wreck with fatalities like this. i bet that watching that woman to give her breathalyzer while doing the other parts of the job (there was a crime scene / accident to secure and people to keep safe) that would have been difficult depending on who ended up on the scene first (emt, fire, police) and who was available, and could have taken away from the safety of the public and the others on the scene depending on the circumstances.

 

[pedinurse]

They didn't charge her with the DUI because they didn't get the blood alcohol soon enough after the accident.

was it blood alcohol?

 

[sherri79]

So many decisions can factor into a Judge's decision and unless I know them all, I have faith in the Judge.

Circumstances that could have factored in this case: the age of the woman who pled guilty, the circumstances surrounding her being legally drunk and driving (was she blotto or just over the limit and not know it), the fact that she pled, whether or not she had a criminal record for drunk driving or other crimes, her level of remourse, the feelings of the victim's family, restitution paid, whether or not the injured parties contributed in any way to the incident, whether or not she completed an alcohol treatment program and seemed genuinely on the road to rehabilitation.....these are just off the top of my head - there are probably others.

I'm not saying any of these factors (or others I'm not thinking of) were taken into consideration in this case. But if she pled, both the prosecutor and the defense had to be comfortable with what type of punishment would potentionally be levied against her.

I think the sentence is light, but I'm willing to believe that the Court has a better vantage point of the evidence.

she has fought her punishment every step of the way. she was ordered to pay 20k to the child but that was overturned when she fought it on grounds the baby was not really a victim. the victims family is still very angry. the refused to replace the coffin picture with something to make her feel better.

 

[pedinurse]

she has fought her punishment every step of the way. she was ordered to pay 20k to the child but that was overturned when she fought it on grounds the baby was not really a victim. the victims family is still very angry. the refused to replace the coffin picture with something to make her feel better.

thats the thing. why cant she just act sorry?

 

[Amraann]

thats the thing. why cant she just act sorry?

Her attorney is fighting this... I am not so sure if that is a reflection of her so much as a reflection of an Atty who see's $$ signs..

Not defending her but just pointing out that little tidbit.

 

[SadieMae]

To be honest I'm more pissed off about her being on her cellphone than her drinking. It annoys me to no end when I see people yapping away on their phones while they are driving. Hell, even when walking around the mall or the supermarket.

We were doing just fine as a society before cellphones came along, and now it's a giant annoyance and even getting people killed.

People can hardly control their driving when they're on their phones, so add in alcohol and that poor couple had no chance.

............

As to the why I think it's cruel...I think it lies in the excessiveness, especially since it's a picture of a person in a coffin. However, I think it's a fair trade off in light of the ridiculolusly small amount of jail time this woman did. If I had to choose between the two, I'd rather carry around the picture than rot in jail. She got off easy...but still, the picture creeps me out.

I guess I don't really have a good explanation for this one Amraann.

I also wonder why 99% of the time it's the drunk idiots who survive these crashes.

I can't stand people paying more attention to their phone conversation that to their driving. I've had way too many near misses with these a**holes. I have seperate ringers on my phone, and general calls just have to leave me a message, I don't answer it. I'll pick up known callers on my bluetooth and I don't carry on drawn out conversations.
You're right, why is it the drunk usually lives?

In this story, why did she ONLY get 30 DAYS in jail? That wasn't justice or punishment IMO. And she had the NERVE to complain about the other terms of her sentence!!!?? I think she should have been given an ALBUM with crash scene photos, photos of the wife in her coma, photos of the baby she left orphaned, along with the casket photos. All in all, I hope karma bites her in the *ss big time. JMO.

 

[sherri79]

Her attorney is fighting this... I am not so sure if that is a reflection of her so much as a reflection of an Atty who see's $$ signs..

Not defending her but just pointing out that little tidbit.

the attorney can not fight it without her. if she wanted to take her punishment out of guilt the attorney can not file on her behalf. it's easy to blame the lawyer when they have scum for a client but it wont make the client less repulsive.

 

[Paladin]

the attorney can not fight it without her. if she wanted to take her punishment out of guilt the attorney can not file on her behalf. it's easy to blame the lawyer when they have scum for a client but it wont make the client less repulsive.

Do you think this particular person is scum?

 

[pedinurse]

Do you think this particular person is scum?

well if someone else is going to bring up that terminology i'm not going out of my way to disagree...

i think we all have some redeeming qualities. but i sure do think her behavior is repulsive. she needs to take some responsibility for what she did and act regretful in some manner for slaughtering this family.

 

[Texana]

I think she needs to shut up and quit complaining. She could be in jail still. She could be dead, as the result of her own actions.

Whatever word one uses to describe her, she is clearly a woman who needs to stop complaining and start being grateful for the life she still has.

 

[sherri79]

Do you think this particular person is scum?

yep. her actions started off as careless and selfish. she drank then chatted on the phone as she drove. after she killed a man sent a woman on a slow path to death and left a child with no parents she had choices. she could change her ways. give up the need to be selfish and try to make up for what she had done. she could have taken a second job to pay the 20k to the child that wont have a mom and dad to pay for his higher education. she could have taken the picture and had it blown up to use when she spoke at schools to tell kids the danger of drinking and using a cell phone when you should watch the road. she did not. she still acts so selfishly. "poor me. i shouldnt have to pay this child. he wasnt alive when i killed his daddy and mommy. its not fair" "poor me. i shouldnt have to carry this sad picture. i suffer to much so i'll drag his family thru more grief demanding a less stressful picture" to me the measure of a person matter less in the mistakes they make but what they do after them.

 

[Texana]

Anybody who is old enough to legally drink and says that they didn't understand what the effects of 3 or 5 or 7 drinks would be upon his/her driving is a liar, plain and simple.

We do people no favors when we disallow them the opportunity to take responsibility for their actions.

We create further opportunities for people to cause harm to others when we say that they couldn't know how impaired they were when they were driving.

Most drunk drivers who cause fatality accidents are not just a little bit over the line. They are usually almost twice or more the legal limit for driving--because they are serial drinker-and-drivers.

 

[wandering]

This is definitely going to piss alot of you off...but I think making the person carry a picture around of the person you killed falls under the "cruel and unsual" punishment in the Bill of Rights.

I would have liked to see this woman get MUCH more jail time, and have additional charges thrown at her once the wife had died.

I also think that if this woman has any conscience that she would live with the fact she killed two people, and ruined many other lives, including their families and their son's. That's why I don't see the need for her to carry a picture around, especially one in which the son is in a coffin. I believe that's a bit excessive.

"Excessive?!" Excessive is that two people died and a child is without it's parents!

 

[Paladin]

"Excessive?!" Excessive is that two people died and a child is without it's parents!

I just think it's an inapproriate punishment. The woman should be behind bars. Not free carrying around a picture of my son's corpse.

I also wouldn't think this lady would deserve to lick the dirt off of my dead child's shoes, let alone carry a picture around of him.