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‘Enormous Void': Man Gets 8 Years for Drunken Driving Crash That Killed Couple on Their Way to Vote
NBC Washington ^ | 2/23 | Paul Wagner

Posted on 02/23/2024 10:22:58 PM PST by nickcarraway

A man convicted of hitting and killing a couple as they walked to vote on Election Day in 2022 received a sentence of eight years in prison.

Miguel and Ana Ortiz were in a crosswalk holding hands when they were struck in Gaithersburg, Maryland, by Davinder Singh, who had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.

At sentencing Friday, the judge said she saw the video of the crash and called it horrific. She called Singh a very sick man.

He had been an alcoholic for years and had never been treated for the disease, prosecutors said. He was arrested for DUI twice before. In 2017, his blood alcohol-content was 0.30 — more than three times the legal limit.

After his indictment in the Ortiz case, Singh was found yelling at patrons in a restaurant and hospitalized with a BAC of 0.38, prosecutors said.

Miguel and Ana Ortiz were pillars of the community, according to their three children.

In court Friday, one of the couple’s sons read a statement saying, in part, “The death of our parents has left an enormous void. They were wonderful parents, pillars of their community. They wanted to spend their golden years with their grandchildren. We are emotionally scarred for the rest of our lives. We have been left to pick up the shattered pieces.”

Actress Amy Yasbeck raises awareness about heart condition that killed husband John Ritter Singh apologized in court Friday. He has been in jail for almost a year and will get credit for that time.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; US: Maryland
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1 posted on 02/23/2024 10:22:58 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

And yet she sentenced him to only 8 years.


2 posted on 02/23/2024 10:39:20 PM PST by Fai Mao (HeStarve the Beast and steal its food.)
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To: nickcarraway
I am not a big fan of the lower and lower BAC levels that will get you arrested ...
But I am in favor prosecuting people who are a danger to others.
8 years...?
No ... no .... no ...
keep him off the street
He didn't “accidentally” drive drunk out of his mind.
3 posted on 02/23/2024 10:45:02 PM PST by 1of10 (be vigilant , be strong, be safe, be 1 of 10 .)
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To: Fai Mao

The sentence will not be fully served for this county court decision. It is not federal.

“Maryland law provides that an inmate is generally eligible for parole, if: They have been sentenced to 6 months or more in a correctional facility, and they have served in confinement one-fourth of their aggregate sentence.”

He’ll be back on the roads.


4 posted on 02/23/2024 11:10:48 PM PST by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls.)
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To: nickcarraway

If it says NBC, ABC etc. I don’t read it


5 posted on 02/24/2024 12:08:02 AM PST by albie
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To: nickcarraway

No loss of license?


6 posted on 02/24/2024 12:23:01 AM PST by muir_redwoods (Freedom isn't free, liberty isn't liberal and you'll never find anything Right on the Left)
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To: nickcarraway
Actress Amy Yasbeck raises awareness about heart condition that killed husband John Ritter Singh apologized in court Friday. He has been in jail for almost a year and will get credit for that time.

Amy Yasbeck sounds very committed, crashing an unrelated DUI court proceeding to raise awareness about heart disease.

7 posted on 02/24/2024 1:50:34 AM PST by Angelino97
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To: nickcarraway

Only 8 years is a travesty.

Alcoholism isn’t a disease.


8 posted on 02/24/2024 3:01:43 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (Fraud vitiates everything." - SCOTUS)
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To: frank ballenger

Back in 2001, my brother was killed in California by a 19 year old Hispanic kid who was high on drugs and alcohol when he ran thru a red light and broadsided my brother’s car. The kid only got 4 years prison time.


9 posted on 02/24/2024 3:09:14 AM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: nickcarraway

In all fairness, if they were Democrats then they were going to vote either way.


10 posted on 02/24/2024 3:31:44 AM PST by FLvoter
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To: nickcarraway

So “Horrid” that she only gave him a slap on the weist for killing two innocent people.

The experiment of electing/appointing people to the judiciary based on their skin color, plumbing, WOKEness or other leftist philosophy has proven to be a failure.


11 posted on 02/24/2024 3:50:11 AM PST by Iron Munro (AMERICA - LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT !!!)
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To: 1of10

When you hear about these things, the BAC is .2, .3, etc. It’s not the .06s that are tearing up the roads.


12 posted on 02/24/2024 4:06:38 AM PST by Fido969
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To: Fido969
“BAC is .2, .3,”

yup .... I have seen some folks driving who should have been dead from alcohol poisoning.

But I thought ...don't hurt me/ I won't hurt you ....
was kind of the foundation of the law.

Some folks are fine after a few drinks...some go in ditches ... I think we should wait to see who is who.

13 posted on 02/24/2024 4:25:01 AM PST by 1of10 (be vigilant , be strong, be safe, be 1 of 10 .)
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To: MayflowerMadam
Alcoholism isn’t a disease.

I agree. It isn’t.

14 posted on 02/24/2024 4:31:40 AM PST by Mark17 (Retired USAF air traffic controller. Father of USAF Captain & pilot. Both bitten by the aviation bug)
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To: nickcarraway

Kill two people and get only eight years. That’s a crime in itself.


15 posted on 02/24/2024 6:01:52 AM PST by TalBlack (I We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: MayflowerMadam

“Alcoholism isn’t a disease.“

Quite right. It if the people who say it is a disease really believe that then they’d conclude that these afflicted are a danger to others and themselves and must be institutionalized. But they don’t for some reason. This selfish monster will be out in short order and he will drink again.


16 posted on 02/24/2024 6:06:27 AM PST by TalBlack (I We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: Angelino97

Yeah why was that even relevant to this story? Why is the widow of John Ritter making statements at this proceeding? Was she related to the deceased family members?


17 posted on 02/24/2024 6:48:28 AM PST by Blue Highway
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To: nickcarraway

Carry the death penalty when you kill someone while intoxicated or high. Enforce it a few times and people will start to understand that each time they drink or shoot up, they are now taking a risk. You’ll see this stuff clear up pretty quick... but then again this country doesn’t have the backbone to enforce anything unless it adds money to gov coffers.


18 posted on 02/24/2024 7:33:26 AM PST by Marko413
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To: frank ballenger

And when he deliberately kills again, the people who let him out will not be held accountable for their grievous error in judgment and for endangering the public.


19 posted on 02/24/2024 7:40:12 AM PST by glennaro (Never give up ... never give in ... never surrender ... and enjoy every minute of doing so.)
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To: glennaro

RE: And when he deliberately kills again, the people who let him out will not be held accountable for their grievous error in judgment and for endangering the public.


Excellent plot idea in the novel by the late lawyer Erika Holzer (friend and writer protege of Ayn Rand) Eye for an Eye. Also made into a movie in 1996. 12 step style grief group of people whose loved ones were murdered with the killer going free after trial. Roomful of them. Secret inner group tells woman: “We’re kind of sticklers for justice since you can’t count on the system to provide it.”


20 posted on 02/24/2024 11:55:48 AM PST by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls.)
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