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Family's outrage after drunk hit-and-run driver is sentenced to just 120 DAYS
Daily Mail ^ | , 13 July 2014 | ASHLEY COLLMAN

Posted on 07/13/2014 5:30:49 PM PDT by moonshinner_09

( Family's outrage after drunk hit-and-run driver is sentenced to just 120 DAYS in prison for killing man who lost wife and daughter in similar incident )

A drunk driver who killed a 57-year-old motorcyclist when he sped through a red light last year will only have to spend 120 days in prison - a light sentence that has infuriated the victim's already heartbroken family. Ronald O'Kelly, 25, plead guilty to charges of involuntary vehicular manslaughter due to intoxication and fleeing the scene on Friday, in connection with the tragic April 2013 accident that killed Kansas City man Leroy 'Buddy' Bronson. Bronson's death was the third in a family plagued by drunk driving accidents. Three years ago, Bronson's wife Diane and his 11-year-old daughter Anna were killed when a drunk driver going the wrong way on the freeway smashed into their white Ford Explorer. 'This is horrible. This is disgusting. What is our judicial system saying? Drink? Drive? Kill somebody? Run! You're fine,' Bronson's stepson Tyler Bronson told WFSB in court on Friday. O'Kelly did not issue a statement as he left the court room last week. However, in court O'Kelly apologized to the Bronson family and said the man's death was something he will have to live with forever.'Since the accident I have thought about it every day, and there is nothing I can say that will make anything better,' he said. 'I’m super sorry about what happened,' he added. 'I will have to live with it for the rest of my life, just like you guys will.' O'Kelly had spent the night Of April 7, 2013 getting drunk at a tavern, witnesses said, before he ran a red light and crashed into Bronson driving his motorcycle.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Government; Local News; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: donutwatch; drunkdriver; kansascity; mo
After reading this I am amazed the police were given permission to arrest him.He had just got to have friends in high places.drunk driving KS must be thought of as very serious crime.
1 posted on 07/13/2014 5:30:49 PM PDT by moonshinner_09
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To: moonshinner_09

this is one area of law many european countries are far better than us in dealing with harsh sentences. i’m the last guy to tout europe but many of them have far better laws for drunk driving.


2 posted on 07/13/2014 5:32:57 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man ( Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: moonshinner_09

The law is an ass.


3 posted on 07/13/2014 5:33:40 PM PDT by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (HELL, NO! BE UNGOVERNABLE! --- ISLAM DELENDA EST)
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To: moonshinner_09

Wait, who went through the red light? The drunk guy or the motorcyclist?

If the drunk guy went through this sentence is truly and outrage but it seemed like maybe it was the other guy who ran the light and the drunk guy just failed to stop in time.

Too creepy having 2 separate fatal drunk driving accidents in your family. Time to move to Utah.


4 posted on 07/13/2014 5:34:55 PM PDT by jocon307
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To: jocon307

The drunk guy ran the light.See the last sentence of the post.


5 posted on 07/13/2014 5:37:18 PM PDT by Farmer Dean (stop worrying about what they want to do to you,start thinking about what you want to do to them)
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To: moonshinner_09; Morgana

Be glad it wasn’t a rich kid getting off for “affluenza” and then getting “counseling” that robs the taxpayers by $30,000 a month.


6 posted on 07/13/2014 5:39:59 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: moonshinner_09

If the courts do not dispense fair justice, they abrogate their very purpose, which is to prevent blood feuds and revenge killings.

In many times in the US, such legal failure could have resulted in homicide, which failed only because the aggrieved party tried to subcontract their revenge.

Were they instead, to just bide their time, and carry out their revenge personally, it is likely it could have succeeded. Yet such stories seldom make the news, for the obvious reason that they were successful.


7 posted on 07/13/2014 5:45:01 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("Don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative." -Obama, 09-24-11)
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To: moonshinner_09

We have the best legal system that money can buy.


8 posted on 07/13/2014 5:46:37 PM PDT by aomagrat (Gun owners who vote for democrats are too stupid to own guns.)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

There was even a movie made about that: The Crossing Guard with Jack Nicholsen. The guy should have gotten 20 years at least, what a sham. How can a Judge do something like that and live with himself?


9 posted on 07/13/2014 5:48:21 PM PDT by HerrBlucher (Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of Creation)
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To: HerrBlucher

Money is very good at silencing a conscience....assuming you have one.


10 posted on 07/13/2014 6:08:03 PM PDT by Politicalkiddo (The more helpless the victim, the more hideous the assault.)
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To: Farmer Dean

Thanks, actually it was very clear at the site.

And then there is this, from the article “this sentence is typical for offenders in Jackson County. According to state corrections records, from 2009 to 2013, eight out of 10 involuntary manslaughter due to intoxication convictions ended in a probation sentence.”

I’m sorry, this is wrong. ESPECIALLY for a person who flees the scene.

Somebody needs to do something about this, don’t know who, or what or why, but I don’t see why people in this County are getting a “drive drunk and kill” free card from their local justice system.


11 posted on 07/13/2014 6:14:02 PM PDT by jocon307
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To: moonshinner_09

a tragedy.... for all of those who drink and drive DON”T


12 posted on 07/13/2014 6:34:06 PM PDT by Nifster
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To: Politicalkiddo

True, but no amount of money can make up for an eternity in Hell. It is really a bad deal.


13 posted on 07/13/2014 6:36:54 PM PDT by HerrBlucher (Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of Creation)
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To: HerrBlucher

Of course. But people like that don’t believe in hell, or simply don’t care.


14 posted on 07/13/2014 6:43:41 PM PDT by Politicalkiddo (The more helpless the victim, the more hideous the assault.)
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To: moonshinner_09

Wasn’t some kid let off in TX after he killed four people while drunk driving or something? Said he was too rich to jail?


15 posted on 07/13/2014 6:44:44 PM PDT by SkyDancer (When the government is above the law, it's called fascism.)
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To: SkyDancer

Yeah, they say he suffered affluenza...lol. In the long run nobody gets away with anything.


16 posted on 07/13/2014 6:50:44 PM PDT by HerrBlucher (Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of Creation)
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To: moonshinner_09

Other news articles report that the perp, who was driving a pickup truck, ran the red light—not the motorcyclist, who was totally innocent.
The other day a friend and I were discussing what he would do if anyone killed one of his loved ones through reckless conduct, such as drunk driving. His solution was simple: He doesn’t have faith in the criminal justice system to punish criminals. So he would carefully plan and carry out the execution of the perp, through whatever means would maximize the chances that he would not be prosecuted. His opinion was that with careful planning he would likely be able to carry out such a plan. Apparently he has promised his loved ones that he would take such steps, which has brought comfort to the family in a dangerous world.


17 posted on 07/13/2014 7:44:24 PM PDT by JoeFromCA
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