DWI Hit Parade!

METH-HEAD KILLER HANIN GOMA
From WLS
March 20, 2013 (SKOKIE, Ill.)  — A Skokie woman who caused a crash that killed a 9-year-old boy last May was sentenced to five years in prison.
Prosecutors say Hanin Goma had drugs in her system when she caused a chain-reaction crash that killed 9-year-old Carter Vo. Investigators say Goma hit a van as she was making a left turn, causing her ….MORE

Omar Solomen Chahid        Pitt County District Attorney Kimberly Robb made plea deal that let DWI killer off with little jail time and ordered to write a four-page letter about what it’s like to kill your pal and run and hide, leaving your dying friend in a smoking wreck into a cemetery fence…
Photo courtesy of WITN
From WNCT
\GREENVILLE, N.C. -The driver charged with second-degree murder in a fatal accident two years ago has taken a plea deal.
On Wednesday, 20-year-old Omar Solomen Chahid pleaded guilty to felony hit and run and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. Those charges were reduced from the original charge of second-degree murder, among a long list of other charges.
Chahid was 18 years old when police say he wrecked his car on 5th Street in Greenville.
Police say the car he was driving crossed the center line and overturned. Officers say he was impaired at the time, and walked away from the accident.
The accident killed one passenger, 21-year-old Taylor Weiss  …..MORE

District Attorney who approved sweet deal for DWI killer was appointed by North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory

D. A. Robb accused of cooking DNA evidence to falsely convict woman  download federal lawsuit

From Daily Record

Amy Locane-Bovenizer could barely contain a smile when Superior Court Judge Robert Reed handed down his sentence.
The former actress, now a wife and mother of two daughters, will spend no more than three years in state prison for the crime of driving drunk and killing Helene Seeman, 60, on the night of June 27, 2010.
Locane-Bovenizer’s blood-alcohol content was three times the legal limit. Minutes before the fatal accident ….MORE

NEWS MEDIA AND LAW ENFORCEMENT THAT USE THE TERM “ACCIDENT” OUGHT TO CONSIDER USING THE WORDS “CRASH OR COLLISSION”. An accident is an unanticipated act that cannot be predicted or thought likely…otherwise, crashing after driving while drinking is a predictable outcome of a CHOICE. (Editor’s Note: When your favorite news source uses the term “accident”, send a polite comment to the editor about the improper use of the term. That will be one small way that most anyone might make a difference and lead to saving lives.  The fact that the DUI killer in this event used the term “accident” cannot be prevented, but police and news reporters can use the term when and if it applies. Happy New Year!)

From Chronicle Telegram
(Jan. 5, 2013) — ELYRIA — A former Lorain man who killed his girlfriend in a drunken driving crash in December 2010 was sentenced Friday to 30 months in prison. Wilfredo Osorio Jr., 28, was found guilty last year of vehicular homicide, DUI and driving without a license. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge, who imposed the sentence Friday, cleared Osorio of more serious aggravated vehicular homicide charges. Assistant County Prosecutor Nick Hanek urged Burge to impose the maximum sentence, which the judge said was 30 months, in part because of an interview Osorio had with the Lorain County Probation Department in which he reportedly failed to take responsibility for his actions leading to the death of 26-year-old Rachel Frahm of Sullivan. “I believe this defendant has refused to take any responsibility for the death of his girlfriend,” Hanek said. An emotional Osorio told Burge that he knew he had made a mistake getting behind the wheel of the car, but he also blamed icy conditions on Middle Ridge Road in Amherst Township for the crash. “This was an accident,” he said. “I slipped on ice.” ….MORE

Tyler Alred
John Luke Dum, 16, was killed in crash, Alred admitted he was drinking

From Opposing Views
Tyler Alred, from Muskogee, Oklahoma, was sentenced this week to probation, which included going to church every Sunday for the next 10 years, reports TulsaWorld.com.
Alred, 19, had been drinking when he accidentally killed a friend in a car accident. Alred plead guilty in August to manslaughter, but the judge decided to defer the conviction and gave him the unusual probation.
In addition to 10 years of church attendance, Alred has to wear an ankle bracelet …MORE

Another Maryland Memory from one of the state’s Judges…the land of winkin’, blinkin’ and nod!

From Annapolis Gazette
Surrounded by family and friends, a Jessup man received a six-month sentence Thursday for striking and killing his neighbor with his truck while driving drunk.
Keith Edward Harrell, 24, of 2054 Citrus Ave., will spend the first 60 days in jail. The remainder of his sentence will be served under house arrest. He will be on probation for two years and is prohibited from driving any vehicle that does not have a breath-alcohol ignition interlock device.
The sentence was handed down by Judge William C. Mulford II in county Circuit Court in Annapolis.
Harrell pleaded guilty to felony negligent homicide while driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
The case stems from a fatal pedestrian crash less than a mile from Harrell’s home on July 13, 2011, that killed neighbor Robert Ashworth Brown, 50, also of the …MORE

Judge Mullford has some folks who like him

From Telegram.com
A special counsel urged the state’s highest court Thursday to embrace measures, including tougher laws and changes in courtroom policy, to help erase the “appearance of leniency” in drunken driving cases decided by judges instead of juries.
Judges in some Massachusetts courts, particularly in Worcester County, acquit nearly all drunken driving defendants who waive their right to a jury trial, according to a yearlong study of the court system that recommends curbing “judge shopping.”
The study, commissioned by the Supreme Judicial Court last year following a Globe Spotlight series, recommended that defendants be required to choose a bench trial earlier in the process, instead of waiting until the last minute. Some defendants decide to waive their right to a jury trial on the day of the trial when a judge with a reputation for leniency appears on the bench
…MORE.

Photo from family website – Completeinjustice.com

Read the letter from Laura’s family to Judge Charles Atwell
Judge Charles Atwell — was he too easy on the killer?  Read the family’s letter and you decide if Judge Atwell should be removed from the bench.

From WDAF
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Laura Reynolds died Halloween night in 2009. She was in the car with two friends when a 19 year-old drunk driver going the wrong way slammed into them head-on.
Now Reynolds’ family says the man who killed her got off too easily.
“The bottom of your mind you’re thinking, well there will be justice for this,” said Jake Reynolds, Laura Reynolds’s brother.
Kenneth Scott Blake, II, then 19 years-old pleaded guilty, and Reynolds believes the judge gave him a sentence that didn’t match the crime.
“The judge could have given him zero to 15 years for manslaughter for killing my sister and he chose zero. He chose a 12 year sentence and then suspended it, which means that there’s no time served,” Reynolds said.  …MORE

From Capital Gazette
An Annapolis man who struck and killed a stranded motorist on Route 50 last year pleaded guilty Tuesday to driving under the influence at the time of the crash.
Jose Jesus Garcia-Salmoran, 30, of Americana Drive, entered the plea before Judge William C. Mulford II in county Circuit Court in Annapolis.
He faces a year in jail and up to $1,000 in fines at sentencing Jan. 7.
The charge stems from a deadly crash just outside Annapolis on July 23, 2011, that killed 20-year-old Jasmine Yvonne Owens.
Owens, of Upper Marlboro, was driving east on a bridge across  ….MORE

Audrey Glenville
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. CHARLES COUNTY • A 24-year-old woman who killed two women while driving drunk will likely spend only four months in jail.
Audrey R. Glenville of Dardenne Prairie pleaded guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter in July. She was driving on the north service road of Interstate 70 in August 2011 when she crossed the center line and struck the women’s car head on. Killed were Saundra Carlin, 74, and Mary Silver, 64, both of New Melle.
Glenville’s blood-alcohol level was 0.127 about two hours after the crash. The legal limit for drivers in Missouri is 0.08 percent.
On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Dan Pelikan sentenced Glenville to 10 years on each count, but he placed her into a 120-day shock treatment program. If she completes it, she will be on probation for the remainder of her sentence.  ….MORE