Posted on 11/03/2019 5:01:01 AM PST by csvset
The driver in a head-on Delaware crash that killed five members of a New Jersey family has been sentenced to one year of probation.
Alvin Hubbard III of Cambridge was sentenced Friday. He pleaded guilty in June to five misdemeanor counts of operating a motor vehicle causing death and two misdemeanor counts of vehicular assault.
The judge gave the 46-year-old Hubbard the maximum combined sentence of 14 years but suspended the prison time for a year of probation. Prosecutors sought a six-month sentence.
Mary Rose Ballocanag, 52, of Teaneck, New Jersey, her husband Audie Trinidad, 61, and their four daughters Kaitlyn, 20, Danna, 17, and twins Allison and Melissa, 13, were returning from a trip to Ocean City, Maryland, in July of last year when a pickup truck driven by Hubbard crossed a median and hit their minivan, investigators said.
Ballocanag survived. Her husband and four daughters all died.
"Part of me died that day," Ballocanag said about the crash.
Hubbard and his passenger walked away without serious injuries.
Investigators took more than three months to conclude the investigation leading to charges against Hubbard. They determined that Hubbard operated his truck in a criminally negligent manner when he exited his lane of travel, crossed the center median between a multi-lane highway, and crashed into oncoming traffic.
Hubbard was initially charged with five counts of second-degree vehicular homicide, three counts of vehicular assault and other offenses.
Ballocanag's attorney stated last October that she planned to file a civil suit against Hubbard after the investigation.
Gid what a beautiful family! So sad:(
Of course he was at fault and will lose a civil lawsuit. And he may well have been reckless. But being reckless and criminally reckless, which would potentially result in jail time, are not the same thing. Here's a good discussion of the differences.
If this is true — and I most seriously doubt for a second it is — the killer should be banned from driving for life.
It was an accident, period.
I am only pointing out that it may not have had the same results had the teens been wearing seat belts.
Not sure what good it would do to put him in jail.
I have asthma and had a coughing fit so bad once, I lost my eyesight for about 5 seconds. I was on a curve with a cliff on my right side. I held the wheel in the same position and braked steadily to a stop. When my vision returned my right tires were 6 inches onto the right shoulder. I had used my inhaler a minute or so prior but it handed kicked in.
Investigators took more than three months to conclude the investigation leading to charges against Hubbard. They determined that Hubbard operated his truck in a criminally negligent manner.
Don’t go and make a sensible comment now you’ll spoil the lynching.
I will say the driver should probably not ever drive again if he has a condition that can cause him to pass out while driving
This is an old legal trick. If ever involved in a wreck say you sneezed. It is impossible to sneeze without closing your eyes. Advice passed on to me by a friend in law enforcement.
Suggesting otherwise to place some of the blame on the victims is not appropriate.
It's called JUSTICE.
There is no justice for this poor woman who lost her whole family in this accident, unless the perpetrator is punished.
One year probation for killing 5 people is not a punishment . It is a vacation.
Investigators try to determine the facts. They cannot make legal determinations.
True. That’s why we have “wise” judges such as this one to make “just decisions.”
it would put the irresponsible loser in jail.
There is an old saying in the legal profession, of which I am a member, that "hard cases make bad law." One sees a terrible case like this where a beautiful family is decimated and the knee jerk reaction from many is to throw the guy in jail regardless of his level of culpability. Any one of us is capable at any time of making a simple driving mistake which has terrible consequences. What if this driver had instead been a mother who took a quick glance at her baby in the back seat to see why it was crying and in doing so crossed the center line. Do you think she should be jailed?
“Hubbard’s attorney, John Kirk, on Friday pointed to a respiratory condition, called cough syncope. While he was driving, Kirk said, Hubbard began to cough. It caused him to stray, initially, from the lane, he said. But the cough became more violent, causing him to pass out, Kirk said.”
I have had this happen to me. I was coughing, I woke up on the floor. My wife told me I had passed out. I denied it. She then said to me, then how do you explain that big scrape on your forehead?
It’s a coughing jag that doesn’t allow you to take in enough air and you pass out.
It has happened or almost happened several times since. I have learned to be aware of the type of cough that may lead to this and immediately sit down. If driving I immediately pull over. If nothing happens, you continue on with your day.
If you start seeing stars and get that tingling feeling it’s already too late, you’re temporarily paralyzed.
If this were the first time this happened to him, there is no way he would have known what to expect.
It seems that in order to have thrown the book at him, they would have needed to prove “negligence. That he did it on purpose, was under the influence of drugs or alcohol (impaired), didn’t know how to operate the vehicle he was driving, playing with the radio or texting, etc.
I agree that the sentence was lenient, but it does seem like it was an “accident”. A year or two in jail/prison would have been sufficient. Better for him as well. He could have rationalized that he had paid a price for his actions.
This way it’s as if he got away with it. A fact hard to live with for a decent person.
The 4 or 5 hours of sleep as a contributing factor is WEAK.
President Trump does this EVERY DAY!
She will be a fundamentally broken woman for years, at least.
But from this story do we know enough? He had a co-worker in his truck with him and supposedly had a coughing fit that led to his momentarily passing out.
Is this true? If, as the story reports, it hadn’t been diagnosed previously, then he presumably really isn’t to blame for it. Did he momentarily fall asleep after the reportedly short night’s sleep the night before? I suppose possible, though less likely with a co-worker with him.
Really, I don’t see the criminal negligence from what’s been reported. Quite possible, and he could have made up his coughing (and subsequent COPD diagnosis) defense to avoid prison.
But I don’t think we Freepers have enough to judge here, at least to the point of sending someone to prison for years.
How certain are you that he was irresponsible?
I believe your story.
On the other hand, when driving one can’t always immediately pull over safely.
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