Judge lowers the boom on DUI killer James York, convicted of killing Walter Machalick
while driving under influence of pot and driving while suspended for DUI

From Pocono Record
James York of Effort had what his attorney called “a low level of marijuana” in his system last March when he drove under the influence and killed 85-year-old World War II veteran Walter Machalick, who was checking his mailbox in front of his Chestnuthill Township home.

York said he uses marijuana to alleviate nausea caused by an illness he has, and he never meant to hurt or kill anyone. Regardless, York has a drunken driving history dating back to 1987 and was driving with a suspended license for a prior DUI offense when he killed Machalick, Monroe County President Judge Margherita Patti Worthington pointed out in court papers.

“You consciously made the decision to get behind the wheel while under the influence and with your son in the car, no less,” Worthington told York when sentencing him Monday to four to 10 years in state prison on his vehicular-homicide-while-DUI guilty plea. (York had already dropped his son, who was under 16 at the time, at a friend’s when Machalick was killed.)

“It’s not an ‘accident’ when someone causes another person’s death or injury while DUI. It’s a conscious decision someone makes to drive in that
condition, knowing what can happen.” …..MORE