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Drunk Woman Hands Over Car Keys to Boyfriend & Faces 30 Years in Prison for It!
thestir ^ | 2-2010

Posted on 02/27/2012 7:35:38 PM PST by doug from upland

She probably thought she was doing the right thing. When 21-year-old Erin Brown was too wasted to drive her Toyota Scion home after a night out on the town, she gave the keys to her boyfriend, Trevor Bradshaw. Which would’ve been a responsible decision, except he was drunk too — and ended up hitting and killing two pedestrians as he swerved through the streets of Nashville. That’s tragic in and of itself.

But prosecutors are now dusting off a rarely used law to charge Brown with vehicular homicide right along with her man, citing that anyone who knowingly hands over their keys to an intoxicated person is just as liable for any damages as the individual behind the wheel. Now she’s facing 30 years in jail because she wasn’t astute enough in her drunkenness to realize that her boo was too tipsy to drive.

So what we’re basically saying here is that it was up to Brown to discern how far gone Bradshaw was rather than it being up to him to admit that he was too stewed to play chauffeur. Under that line of thinking, it must be a mugging victim’s fault for wearing a super snazzy handbag and tempting a renegade thief to steal it.

The sad fallout from their bad decision-making means two young men are now dead: Michael Brooksher, 22, and Tommy Allen, 23. The best friends both suffered injuries that killed them shortly after they were plowed down at 2:30 in the morning back in December. If the D.A.’s office has its way, this incident will also claim the lives of two more young people, with Brown and Bradshaw serving three decades behind bars, which puts them darn near in their golden years by the time they get out if they serve full sentences.

I’m not saying break out the violins and sad movie music for either of them, especially him. How many high school health classes and bad after school specials does someone have sit through before they get the message that driving drunk, bad; calling taxi, good? But I do think that, barring any idiotic new developments that confirm she was well aware of how inebriated her man actually was, prosecutors are trying — unnecessarily — to make an example out of her.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: driving; drunk
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1 posted on 02/27/2012 7:35:48 PM PST by doug from upland
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To: doug from upland

She will get off.When the prosecution start using old laws it proves they are out of gas. In this case, no crime by the woman was committed


2 posted on 02/27/2012 7:40:23 PM PST by U-238
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Now that’s a bunch of crap.


3 posted on 02/27/2012 7:41:26 PM PST by loungitude (The truth hurts.)
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To: doug from upland

She aided and abetted. They can both go to jail forever as far as I’m concerned.
I wouldn’t want to have to explain leniency for either of them to the families of the dead pedestrians.


4 posted on 02/27/2012 7:41:59 PM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: doug from upland

Drinking is bad news all around.

As if a drunk person knows anything that is going on. By definition they are clueless. She probably DIDN’T realize how drunk her BF was.


5 posted on 02/27/2012 7:43:14 PM PST by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Technological progress cannot be legislated.)
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To: doug from upland

Too drunk to drive but sober enough to distinguish that the boyfriend was also too drunk to drive. That is definitely a distinction hard to prove in a court of law.

I always find the phrase “behind bars” a bad choice of words when describing DUI sentences. If they hadn’t been in front of bars, they wouldn’t have been in that predicament.


6 posted on 02/27/2012 7:44:03 PM PST by OrangeHoof (Obama: The Dr. Kevorkian of the American economy.)
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To: doug from upland

Just another example that proves the the average DA has
no concern whatsoever with justice....just with his box
score and the bragging rights he can crow about to the
public at election time.


7 posted on 02/27/2012 7:44:41 PM PST by nvscanman
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To: doug from upland

In The Jailhouse Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL7ZjFp1Z5s


8 posted on 02/27/2012 7:45:38 PM PST by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
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To: doug from upland
don't they have to prove she KNEW he was too drunk to drive???
9 posted on 02/27/2012 7:45:38 PM PST by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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I knew a guy that received a ticket for jaywalking by the LAPD and had to go to court. The judge laughed and threw it out.
10 posted on 02/27/2012 7:46:06 PM PST by U-238
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To: doug from upland

Doug, Here’s your chance for a rally great song sung to the Willie Nelson tune. Your title will be: “If you got the keys Honey. You’ll do the time!”
They’ll never get through the Cajon to ya!


11 posted on 02/27/2012 7:48:38 PM PST by TaMoDee ( Lassez les bons temps rouler dans les 2012!)
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To: Chode
don't they have to prove she KNEW he was too drunk to drive???

Sounds like it to me. They even use the word knowingly in describing the law that she's being charged under.

12 posted on 02/27/2012 7:49:31 PM PST by Bob
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To: doug from upland

I agree with the charges. If you’re too stupid not to request a designated driver, then you deserve what you get.

Two young men lost their lives and 30 years in prison won’t bring them back.


13 posted on 02/27/2012 7:49:53 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: doug from upland
who knowingly hands over their keys

How was she to know he was too drunk?

14 posted on 02/27/2012 7:54:50 PM PST by occamrzr06
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To: Lancey Howard

“She aided and abetted. They can both go to jail forever as far as I’m concerned.”

I disagree. Even had she been sober, she wouldn’t have been medically competent to make a judgment as to his ability to drive or the extent of his intoxication. Even the police can’t do that without tests.


15 posted on 02/27/2012 7:57:55 PM PST by babygene (Figures don't lie, but liars can figure...)
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To: doug from upland
In a free country, a crime involves intent. When the USSA was a free country, this would be called an “accident”. Or a “tragedy”.

Now, it's a chance for a prosecutor to prove how tough he is and throw more noncriminals into prison.

I feel so safe, comrade!

16 posted on 02/28/2012 7:10:42 PM PST by Forgotten Amendments (Sheep and insects need leaders.)
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To: doug from upland

How was that her fault?! He’s the one who should have called a cab...or a non-drunk friend.


17 posted on 02/28/2012 7:13:19 PM PST by madison10
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To: goldstategop
Two young men lost their lives and 30 years in prison won’t bring them back.

Should Laura Bush be in prison?

18 posted on 02/28/2012 7:27:40 PM PST by Forgotten Amendments (Sheep and insects need leaders.)
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To: goldstategop
Two young men lost their lives and 30 years in prison won’t bring them back.

Should Laura Bush be in prison?

19 posted on 02/28/2012 7:27:56 PM PST by Forgotten Amendments (Sheep and insects need leaders.)
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To: Bob
they'll play hell trying to prove that one...
20 posted on 02/28/2012 7:33:40 PM PST by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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