2 Get The Deal Of A Lifetime In Drunk Drag Racing Death

[tropicsgoddess]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...,7851940.story

Okay, these two guys who were days away from their 21st birthdays, went to a house party, drank and smoked weed. They get behind the wheel drag racing while wasted out of their minds and end up killing somebody instantly. They end up being sentenced to a year in jail for the DUI manslaughter (which is what they are currently serving), along with 15 years of probation, 50 hours of community service annually for the time they are on probation with each of them having to pay over $12,000 of restitution. If they slip up, even on a technicality the judge has no hesitation sending them to prison (they face a max of 15 years in prison). They were lucky they got that deal instead of the book thrown at them. Way to spend your 21st birthday...a year in jail and the next 15 years of your life under the state of Florida's thumb. Not only have they seriously wrecked somebody else's family's lives with the victim's death, but they've wrecked their futures as well. Way to go, dumbasses.

[MMATM]

This isn't surprising to me any more. At least your two specimens were punished for the death, albeit too lightly.

Slightly OT, and pretty long:

One similar incident happened in my town a few years ago (small suburban type town outside of Boston).

The case: A girl, 16, is riding with her friend, a male, 17, in "his" car (which is actually registered to one of his parents). It is 2 in the morning. The driver is intoxicated. He is speeding (very much so) on a gravel road. The car rounds a corner at feloniously high speed, the driver loses control, and the vehicle skids off the road, crashing and seriously injuring the girl. The girl requires facial reconstruction surgery to fix the damage done by the glass shards and the impact.

So: The boy is recently 17 and has had his license less than six months. In MA it is illegal to transport non-family-members in your car until you have had your license for six months minimum. (Strike one.)
Also, it is illegal to drive between the hours of 12AM and 6AM unless you have had your license for six months as well. (Strike two.)
The young man was found upon investigation (and upon interviews) to be speeding at excessively high speeds, where the posted speed limit was either 30 or 35. It's 35 now but I believe it was 30 then. His speed was estimated around 55. (Strike three.)
Finally, the young man was found to be intoxicated at the time of the accident, and so guilty of DUI/DWI. (Strike four.)
And was obviously under the legal drinking age of 21. (Strike five.)

The punishment? Six months' probation.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

The girl's family sued the town (not the driver's family, oddly enough) for the condition of the road (paved with gravel rather than asphalt). This road had been deliberately left unpaved due to it's drag-racing potential (long, straight, with one turn halfway through, and it's literally a causeway so there are very few trees and obstacles on either side, apart from the marshy landscape, making for great end-to-end visibility). Also, residents of the neighborhood (lots of children) don't want cars using it as a shortcut to avoid more major roads, since the streets at either end of this particular strip are very twisty, wooded areas with many blind corners and driveways.
Somehow, the girl's family won a massive sum from the town despite the extremely obvious and what should have been effective defense of "the driver was drunk, underage, driving with no license (legally speaking) in a car registered under a name other than his own (legally joyriding) at almost double the posted speed limit, on a road safe enough to have less than one accident per year, on average". In addition, the town was forced by the court to pave the road, which has resulted in drag racing in the area, and at least one drag-racing-related death, just a year later, again involving alcohol and excessive speed.
What'd the family spend their money on? The surgery? NO! That was "the town's fault" too, so they were forced to pay for that. They bought all three of their kids (triplets, two boys and the injured girl) NEW CARS. Two Audi TT's and an Acura (I don't remember the model).

Turns out justice isn't blind, it's lobotomized and being manipulated by douchebags with strings.

And the judge and/or entire jury needs to be dragged out in the back and shot for their utter ineptitude.

Sorry for the length and the ranting. I just hate people like these.

[blas87]

Those two should spend the rest of their lives in prison for killing someone. It doesn't matter that they were drunk. That's no fucking excuse. I got drunk on my 21st birthday, as expected. Did I drive home drunk and kill someone? NO! I have a little thing called personal RESPONSIBILITY AND REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE. I NEVER drive when I go out with my boyfriend or my friends.

Being a 21st birthday doesn't cut it, neither does driving drunk. Hell, just this last winter, some guy was driving drunk and ran over a kid and killed him. Is he going to prison? NO!

Some fucking justice system if you ask me.

[DesignFox]

The girl's family sued the town (not the driver's family, oddly enough)...

In answer to this- the driver's family probably had nothing. There would have been no gain to sue them.

That's probably why they sued the town.

Of course, the case should have been thrown out, and the judge should have laughed in their faces for being such greedy shitheads.

I'm sorry your daughter was disfigured, but put the blame where it belongs- on her stupid Mo-Fo for a boyfriend...or herself for getting in the car with him when she knew he was intoxicated.

I'm sure that little bastard's insurance would have covered her medical anyway...or maybe he didn't have the correct coverage, the parent's had no money to sue for...etc. so they went after the town.

Our tax dollars at work...

AND While I think drunk driving should probably have stiffer penalties, I don't think life imprisonment is appropriate. There are far worse criminals I'd rather see taking up jail space.

[blas87]

I have to respectfully disagree with you, DesignFox. There are people in Wisconsin who already have more than a few DUIs under their belts. Obviously throwing them into the slammer till they sober up and taking away their license for x days or months isn't working. They still drive. They don't care. I'm sure there are already enough people on the road driving with revoked or suspended licenses from other incidents, but it alarms me the amount of people STILL driving after multiple DUIs, still driving drunk. One of these days, they just may kill one of my friends or family members. Or maybe even me. Or like that one guy killed a CHILD.

I am NOT ok with that. Someone who liquors themselves up and gets in a 2500pound battering ram, especially OFTEN, obviously has no regard for their own safety or life, let alone anyone elses. Why should they keep getting slaps on the wrists and be allowed to keep doing it?

[DesignFox]

Like I said blas, the current punishments need to be re-vamped. I just don't know if life imprisonment is the answer.

I mean, after accidentally killing an innocent, being imprisoned or not, your life is forever fucked. Unlike serial killers who enjoy that sort of thing, normal people would FOREVER carry that awful guilt and shame- not to mention go through hell trying to put their life back together after the fact.

Then again, I guess it shouldn't matter to me. I NEVER get behind the wheel of my car when I drink. EVER. Period. I agree more people should act the same way.

[blas87]

I only believe those who drive drunk and kill people should spend life in prison, or at LEAST 25/30 years so they lose a huge chunk of time in life. DUIs are another issue, obviously life in prison is not the answer, but longer jail sentences are a good idea. Nothing outrageous or comparable to murderers, but no more sitting in jail for 12 hours, license revoked, don't you do that again, k bye bye stuff.

[MMATM]

Life imprisonment might not be the best solution, but sooner or later I hope someone wakes up to the fact that repeat-repeat-repeat-offenders are the ones that need to be banned from bars and liquor stores for life, and who need to get some serious jailtime for even the possession, not even necessarily the consumption, of any alcoholic beverage.

And no third and fourth chances. If you get dinged once for DUI, even if nobody was hurt, and you do it again? Nuh-uh, bye bye license. For a good long damn time, too. A year would be a good starter. Then after a third offense? Permanent revocation. Without the possibility of reapplication. And much stiffer penalties for driving without a license, let alone driving drunk without a license. That last should warrant some serious PMITA prison time.

Of course, my stance on the death penalty would free up plenty of prison space, too, but let's not get into that here.

[Seshat]

normal people would FOREVER carry that awful guilt and shame- not to mention go through hell trying to put their life back together after the fact.

Serial drunk-drivers certainly don't act like they're carrying the guilt and shame. Especially the serial drunk-drivers who keep doing it after having killed someone. And there are plenty of those.

[DesignFox]

Well, if some assclown has killed someone, and then DARES to drive drunk again- I say lock them up and throw away the key. Regardless of whether or not the incident resulted in another injury/death.

After killing someone, people like that shouldn't even be allowed to drive anymore, anyway. So, they definitely should go to jail for the maximum amount of time.

[tropicsgoddess]

Centuries ago when criminals and offenders were in jail the sole purpose was to rehabilitate them. Now, it's just to deter them, and the way the justice system is, especially with regard to DUI's or DWI's is fucked up. The guy that drinks less than a glass of champagne and doesn't hurt a flea or damage a thing gets the shit end of the stick as opposed to the guy who had shot after shot after shot of tequila who maimed and killed an innocent person and destroyed some property who gets years of probation. As far as the repeat offenders, go I think mandatory rehab and therapy would help, along with stricter probation, and trips to the morgue and a longer amount of time their license is suspended/revoked. Anything after the second DUI/DWI...permanent revocation.