DWI Hit Parade!

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

Allen County Deputy Prosecutor Adam Mildred: Be glad this inept prosecutor doesn’t work in your county!

In his sentencing, (Judge) Surbeck made sure to remind everyone present that prosecutors never charged Northrup with causing Gatchell’s death.

Anissa Northrup

From Journal Gazette
Those who came to support Anissa Northrup on Friday spoke of a 33-year-old single mother of two boys who helped coach Little League in place of their absent father.
They talked about a woman who took on the role of a den mother in Cub Scouts and who, whenever her friends needed her, would drop everything to baby-sit their children.
And then there were those who came to tell about whom they lost.
They spoke of a 26-year-old music connoisseur named Nathan Gatchall, a man who loved life and who did anything and everything for his friends and family.
They spoke of how crushing it was for someone like that to die so young, especially in the way he died – hit by Northrup’s minivan in the middle of Broadway at 2:45 one April morning.
Then, they watched as Northrup received no prison time. ….MORE

From WANE News

 
Chad Schreiber has his law license pending approval

Drunk driver hit motorcycle, she died; she was drunk too, now he may only get probation as he begins his career as an attorney

From WOAI
SAN ANTONIO – A couple whose daughter was run down and killed by a drunk driver back in 2009 is devastated to have waited this long for a trial they have learned will never happen.
The charges for the driver, 27-year-old Chad William Schreiber, have been reduced from intoxication manslaughter to driving while intoxicated. A plea agreement was reached in the case on Friday when Schreiber pleaded no contest to the DWI misdemeanor charge, which carries a maximum sentence of six months jail time. He is scheduled to be sentenced in 30 days.
John and Alma Presa lost their daughter, 24-year-old Pamela Presa ….MORE
From San Antonio Express-News
A soon-to-be lawyer who was charged with intoxication manslaughter four years ago after he ran over a motorcyclist while driving home from a St. Mary’s law school function instead pleaded no contest Friday to misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.
Although a blood test showed Chad William Schreiber, 27, to have an alcohol level of .13 — just more than 11/2 times the legal limit of .08 — police who responded to the scene were not sure that his intoxication was the cause of the wreck.
Prosecutors would have needed to convince jurors alcohol was the cause to have obtained an intoxication manslaughter conviction at trial, Assistant District Attorney David Henderson said Friday as the plea agreement was approved….MORE

(Editor’s Note: Police officers need to respect court dates the same as citizens…maybe if Judge Jolly locked up some of these deputies they would reschedule their leave and training dates…meanwhile the citizens and witnesses have taken off from work to attend only to have the hapless prosecutor ask for a continuance…Hats Off to Judge Jolly!)

“So, it’s ironic to me that at the same time this community is seeing that from our criminal justice system, they’re also learning that in another courtroom (DWI) cases are being dismissed en masse over state objection because an officer wasn’t present.” — District Attorney Jon David

A police officer has the same obligation to appear in court as a defendant or witness. Police officials know in advance both training days and court appearances. The prosecutor should not be “puzzled” unless he just got out of law school last year…

The prosecutor told the newspaper reporter that the defense attorneys didn’t object to the delays caused by cops failing to appear for court dates…first, this is just another time the lawyers can bill their clients and second, the defense attorneys often need their own delays and their legal practice often hinges on the edge of financial ruin and friendly relations with the D. A. keeps them solvent…

From Star News
Impaired driving charges against 28 people were refiled by the Brunswick County District Attorney’s Office recently after the prosecutor was forced to dismiss the original cases because a judge wouldn’t grant a continuance.
Chief 13th Judicial District Court Judge Jerry A. Jolly made the decision despite the fact that the defense attorneys in the cases didn’t object to the continuances and the officers called to testify were unable to attend.
On Nov. 28, and again on Dec. 12, Jolly denied prosecution requests to continue driving while impaired cases when he was informed on Nov. 28 that the arresting officer was in mandatory training and on Dec. 12 that the deputy was out on leave.
But, Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office records indicate, in each of the 28 cases continuances were granted at least once – and in some cases up to five and six times – at the request of the defense attorneys. Fourteen of the 28 cases were also previously continued at the request of the prosecution.
“I don’t know why he denied the continuance,” said District Attorney Jon David on Friday. “You’d have to ask (Jolly).” …. 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 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

Faith Love killed while trick or treating; Justin Caramanica boozing and taking deadly cocktail of prescription drugs

Child was thrown 115 feet by impact    Attorney William Terry successfully won release pending sentencing

From KTNV
LAS VEGAS (Sept. 23, 2012)  - Las Vegas Metro Police report that a man awaiting sentencing for the DUI death of 12-year-old Faith Love last Halloween was arrested Saturday night on another DUI charge.
Officials say Justin Caramanica was under the influence of an undisclosed drug when he hit a parked car at around 9 p.m. in the area of
W. Sahara Ave. and S. Towne Center Dr. …..MORE

From The Westerly Sun
WAKEFIELD – A Carolina man with obvious injuries, suffered in a car accident Thursday night, entered no plea in court Friday morning on charges including driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, death resulting, and refusing to submit to a chemical test to determine intoxication.
James Mulcahey, Jr., 46, of 13 Debra Drive, was limping and had one eye closed by injury as he was brought handcuffed before Judge Mary McCaffrey to hear South Kingstown Police Sgt. Mark Healy describe the details of the 11 p.m. head-on crash on South County Trail at the South Kingstown/Richmond line.
Police said Mulcahey was traveling south when he struck a vehicle being driven by a woman, now identified as the deceased, Donna Eddy, 53, ….MORE

RIDE WITH A DRUNK DRIVER; BUY A TICKET TO YOUR OWN FUNERAL
From The Roanoke Times
(Aug. 16, 2012) — In Botetourt County Circuit Court today, David William Simmons, 56, of Roanoke, pleaded no contest to a charge of involuntary manslaughter tied to an accident last year that killed a Roanoke woman who was a passenger on his motorcycle.
The accident occurred Aug. 27, sometime after midnight near milepost 105 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Botetourt County. Pamela D. Mullins, 41, of Roanoke was declared dead at the scene. Simmons was seriously injured.
She and Simmons had been at a bar on Orange Avenue and the two had gone for a ride on Simmons’ motorcycle when the accident occurred, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Joel Branscom. One blood sample taken that morning showed Simmons had a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent. Under Virginia law, it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or above.
Judge Clifford Weckstein accepted the plea and found Simmons guilty of the charge.
He ordered a presentence investigation. Sentencing was set for Nov. 8.
The maximum sentence for the involuntary manslaughter charge is 10 years …..MORE

From Democrat & Chronicle
A Perinton man responsible for the death of an elderly woman he struck while driving drunk last year was sentenced today to five years probation and eight weekends in the Monroe County Jail.
Shawn Michael Ahern, 28, pleaded guilty in May to felony driving while intoxicated as part of a deal. He initially also faced a charge of first-degree vehicular manslaughter.
Ahern hit Grace Allen, 90, of Perinton as she crossed High Street to attend evening Mass at Church of the Assumption on Dec. 19. She died of complications from blunt force trauma Jan. 4 at Strong Memorial Hospital.
In court today, Ahern apologized for his actions.
“You have a problem,” Monroe County Court Judge Francis P. Geraci Jr. said…..MORE