Certainly the last parole did not work out well. This was no freak accident resulting from bad luck or a split-second loss of attention. Several cars had called in reports of a dangerous, weaving driver in the minutes before the wreck. There were reports that he had been up all night on meth while on a "fishing trip" with his girlfriend, her child, and his own two children; on the return trip he furiously refused to relinquish the wheel. Despite his criminal record, he had a good job and a real chance of turning his life around. Instead it all went up in smoke.
The family were told that normally two or three people show up at a plea-bargain hearing. Yesterday thirty people appeared for the victims, including police officers from the scene, marshals who retrieved the defendant from Arkansas after he jumped bail, and the family of the two people he killed and the half dozen (including five children) that he injured very seriously. No one appeared for the defendant, who was hauled off to Huntsville prison at the conclusion of the hearing.
Several people gave victim impact statements. My neighbor said that the judge frequently brought out his handkerchief to wipe his eyes. I have never seen a judge in tears. There is something oddly touching about this official, but human, acknowledgement of the family's pain.
4 comments:
A judge too easily moved is a judge too easily manipulated...so it should be a rare sight, and all the more touching.
The last judge in tears I read about was in the Leopold and Loeb case (at least by one account), but those tears were on the other side.
I hope it made the defendant realize he'd done well to take the deal instead of facing trial. The family were on tenterhooks the last few weeks, worrying that he'd change his mind.
A sad story. At least in prison he can do no further harm. It is a fair bet that had he remained on the outside, he would have caused more such harm.
This is not the first story I have heard of prisoners with drug problems who, once on parole, go right back to the drug. Easier said than done to stop the attraction to the drug.
At age 6 I was the passenger in a car that a drunk driver collided with head on, killing immediately the driver of our car. At the time,DWI laws were not as stringent as they are today, so he got no jail time for the fatality. Several years later, continuing his drunk driving, he finally got sent to prison.
This guy's record included all kinds of garbage, starting in his teens, not all directly drug-related, including burglary and domestic violence. Absent a stunning turnaround, he really is lost and an incurable danger on the streets. It's sad and sickening.
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