DUI sentencing
In the matter of the tragedy in Howard County -- an illegal immigrant, drunk beyond drunk, slams his car into another, killing a Marine corporal and his date -- the parents of Cpl. Brian Mathews are predictably and understandably upset with the 10-year prison sentence imposed by Judge Louis A. Becker on the 27-year-old Mexican who killed their son. The corporal's dad told reporters that the sentence was not sufficient. The corporal's mother said her son "fought for the system and it failed him." But how does the sentence compare with those in other cases in Maryland, particularly those where the defendant's citizenship is not a factor, as it obviously was in this one?
Some recent news items from the Sun:
April 2008: A former Johns Hopkins Hospital pathologist could serve as little as one
year in prison for his role in a head-on crash on the Jones Falls Expressway
that left a 22-year-old woman with injuries that later killed her.
February 2008: An Anne Arundel County man who was drunk and high on drugs when he caused a
crash that killed three dialysis patients was sentenced to five years in prison, amid emotional pleas from the victims' families for a more substantial punishment. Judge Paul A. Hackner sentenced Fontaine Pridgett, 47, of Cape St. Claire to 15 years in prison with all but five years suspended and five years of supervised probation - a slightly harsher sentence than prosecutors had
requested for the three counts of homicide by motor vehicle while intoxicated.
May 2007: A day before he was to stand trial on charges of driving drunk at 120 mph
on the Baltimore Beltway, a former Annapolis man admitted guilt in a high-speed drunken-driving crash that occurred a month and a half later and killed his passenger, a Naval Academy midshipman. The driver's blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent, about twice the legal limit. He received a five-year jail sentence -- with all but nine months suspended! -- from Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Joseph P. Manck.
It's also interesting to note that, in Baltimore County last year, a woman with a Spanish surname received a 10-year sentence for that awful dragging death of a child in a stroller on Loch Raven Boulevard. Baltimore County Circuit Judge John O. Hennegan sentenced the woman, Lazara Arellano de Hogue, to five fewer years than the state had requested, but he gave her a hard 10 -- with none of the time suspended. Arellano de Hogue was not drunk, had a valid driver's license and was a legal resident of the United States.
Comments
Dan,
Before we feel too bad for this guy, let's look at an excerpt from a 9/17/07 Sun Article on Morales-Soriano:
"Before last year's fatal crash, Morales-Soriano was charged in Prince George's County with negligent driving, speeding and driving the wrong way on a one-way street after being stopped in Riverdale in July 2006. He was found not guilty, according to court records.
"In February 2006, he was given four citations after an auto accident in a Columbia parking lot in which he refused to take a Breathalyzer test. No one was injured, and prosecutors dropped the charges, saying their evidence was weak."
Admittedly, it doesn't seem that the judge took these two incidents into consideration, but maybe this sentence should be the norm for those that drive drunk and kill innocent people, regardless of their immigration status.
Posted by: Tom | May 29, 2008 10:52 AM
Dan,
I for one am fed up with the minimal sentences for DWI deaths, and think that this guy's blood-alcohol level being 4 times the legal limit is indefensible.
Also, I think his illegal alien status is relevant. If a person has a history of drunk-driving arrests and/or convictions in their home country, we would probably not allow him to reside here if he were to apply for LEGAL residency, and thus this tragedy would've never happened. This is one of the reasons why it is important to enforce our immigration laws.
Posted by: Justice For All | May 29, 2008 11:59 AM
Dan,
I happen to know Cpl. Mathews so obviously I don't think 10 years is enough.
However, this guy's illegal alien status IS relevant purely for the fact that the man was committing a FELONY by being in Maryland anyway. So he was already a felon before he murdered two people. And that isn't even all of his priors considering that he's been pulled over multiple times for drunk driving. So the judge was correct in considering those things when it came to the sentencing.
Clearly, something needs to be done to prevent tragedies like this from happening anymore in Maryland.
Posted by: Mary | May 29, 2008 4:23 PM