• 13
  • November
    2010

What exactly justice means in a case that involves the tragic loss of family is hard to fathom, but a Texas jury recently made a decision that attempts to match the severity of an Easter drunk driving crash. Earlier this year, an entire family was hit by a drunk driver. Two died in the car accident, a 33-year-old mother and her teenage daughter.

All alcohol-related traffic fatalities are tragic, but not all are as infuriating as the Easter incident. The drunk driver in the case, 30, had a history of DWIs; the fatal accident marked the fourth time he has been caught drunk behind the wheel. Fortunately for the family involved and safety advocates, Texas law recently changed in a way that made it possible to handle the Texas case with the gravity it deserves.

By definition, a murder charge results from a crime wherein the defendant set out to kill his or her victims on purpose. Drunk driving accidents have not historically been handled that way because of the impairment involved in such crimes and how that influences the will and judgment of offenders.

The law has changed in Texas, and the Easter accident offender received the brunt of that change when he was formally charged with murder and when a jury sentenced him on Thursday. Based on Texas law, it was legally allowed to treat the offender as a murderer because he was committing a felony that resulted in the victims' deaths.

Despite his defense attorney's argument that his client is not a murderer and, therefore, shouldn't have been handled as such, the repeat offender was convicted of murder and sentenced to two life terms in prison. His words to the mourning family: "I'm sorry."

The family's words to the defendant: "Shame, shame, shame on you."

Source

The Dallas Morning News: "Denton County jury gives DWI offender two life sentences," Wendy Hundley, 11 Nov. 2010