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
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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

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

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

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