[red-beard]

Jim's thread on the kid with the pot charges reminded me that I need to give a follow-up on a thread from Christmas, 2008.

Quick re-cap: On Christmas night, my neighbor's son-in-law went to a bar for a few drinks. The wife (Neighbor's daughter) picked up her husband afterwards, so he didn't have to drive home. Bar is less than 1/2 mile from home.

As they cross a main highway at a traffic light, drunk driver, 3 times legal limit (0.24 BAC) runs the light and t-bones them. They are both killed immediately. Drunk Driver was going over 80 mph in a 45 zone. Drunk driver is injured, broken bones, but nothing life threatening. 24 years old.

Fast forward to last week. Drunk Driver pleads guilty to 2 counts of manslaughter while DWI to avoid trial. She won't take the plea deal of 19 years, asks for a Jury instead. Her lawyer asks for probation. DA asks for 2 x 20 years sentances to be served one after the other.

Jury decides on 2 x 4 yr sentances, to be served one after the other. Yes, Drunk Driver kills 2 and gets 8 years.

Really sad for both families. Both daughter and son-in-law also worked for my neighbor, so it wasn't just a hole in the family, it was a giant hole in a small business . And my neighbor 2 doors down, who also works for the same business, his wife's sister & her husband and one of the kids, was killed by a drunken driver about 4 years ago.

The kid in Jim's thread made a stupid decision, but it only affected him. These drunk drivers have affected not just those killed, but those left behind.