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 wouldve 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. Thats 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 shes facing 30 years in jail because she wasnt astute enough in her drunkenness to realize that her boo was too tipsy to drive.
So what were 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 victims 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.
Im 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.
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
Now that’s a bunch of crap.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In The Jailhouse Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL7ZjFp1Z5s
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!
Sounds like it to me. They even use the word knowingly in describing the law that she's being charged under.
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.
How was she to know he was too drunk?
“She aided and abetted. They can both go to jail forever as far as Im 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.
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!
How was that her fault?! He’s the one who should have called a cab...or a non-drunk friend.
Should Laura Bush be in prison?
Should Laura Bush be in prison?
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