And one agin, more proof that Republicans are above the law...

I would have demanded a stiff jail sentence and filed a civil suit.

she forgave them for making her quit when she got married. not pregnant, even, just married.
but her time there was very special to her, and we felt we shared that when we ate a milky way.

but maybe i should put away the nostalgia, remember that these are evil people, and eat some made in chicago candy.
or france. made in france is good.

I wonder if the IRS will investigate?

per recipient, which is the trigger for the gift tax, the IRS won't give a damn. If you can pay enough family members off, you can get a crowd of them to show up at the courthouse to announce their 'forgiveness'. Chances are, dead Granny didn't leave them too much in her will, as she probably didn't have anything left.

I get sleepy driving sometimes in the morning and again in the afternoon. Yes, I have learned what I need to do to manage it, but not before I bounced off the guard rail one afternoon. I was lucky, this lady wasn't. Sometimes it happens.

I wonder what that deal cost Ms. Mars.

if they lied or obstructed a criminal investigation, sure, but that doesn't appear to be what happened here.

if someone does a civil wrong to another, they should try to make amends and make the victims whole, to the extent possible. our entire civil court system exists to force defendants to do what they should have done voluntarily in the first place.

if the driver reached a private settlement with the would-be plaintiffs without involving the court system, good on her, that's what people ought to do in the first place. of course, it's a whole lot easier when you've got wealth to spare....


accepting a payoff to lie as a witness, sure, that's criminal.
but accepting a payoff to compensate for a civil wrong, well, that's what's supposed to happen. if all they do is then ask the judge not to send the plaintiff to prison, i see no problem in that. for all we know the defendant did express plenty of remorse and so on.

anywhere from manslaughter to various forms of homicide.

She kills 2 people and walks, while thousands of people are stuck in prison for marijuana possession.





[font style=color:#FF0000;]there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there?[/font]

but i don't have a problem with the defendant compensating the victims, and i don't have a problem with the victims asking the judge for leniency.

i certainly don't think the victims should go to prison for what they did, assuming they did accept compensation from the defendant.

according to the Mars family, who, just days before Mars' court date, flew to Texas to meet with the victims' family.

And the irony is Republicans like her are pushing prosecutors all over the country to bring charges against anyone that kills a fetus. You know had this been a poor person who fell asleep at the wheel like Ms. Mars did, they would have been charged with 2 counts of vehicular homicide.

The poor person only has their life to make the victims whole.

It would have been less of an insult to the poor lady's lost life, to not fine the creep at all.
Disgusting. I wonder how the judge felt about all this?

the judge may have given the max. Normally, I think the money part would come from a civil suit anyway. The bigger question is why she didn't face vehicular manslaughter.

where the driver in a fatal accident was not given any jail time. Including cases where the driver was drunk, using drugs, or fell asleep at the wheel.

http://articles.mcall.com/2013-04-30/news/mc-williams-interstate-78-fatal-crash-sentencing-20130430_1_morales-plea-agreement-plea-deal

The article you cite states he pled guilty to manslaughter but didn't face jail time. In it the District Attorney states:
"it would have been difficult to show that Morales fell asleep. But Pepper says the evidence revealed that Morales' vehicle didn't brake before impact or swerve to evade the other truck."
The article also stated that the same ADA had a conviction for the same thing in another incident that ended with a two year jail sentence.

While this could be true, it is only speculation. If it is true, I would not pass judgment, as the the victims have suffered tremendously with the loss of an elderly member and expected child. How could anyone be so cruel as to recommend jail time for them? Is there a purpose in that?

The Mars family is calling it "appropriate financial assistance".

saying the woman who caused the accident should face jail time.

Accidents happen every day. Try putting yourself in Mars' position: Rich or not, you're an old woman who dozed off at the wheel and caused an accident that killed an old lady and someone's precious unborn child. You express sorrow and remorse, you plead guilty, you pay a $2,500 fine and your driver's license is suspended for six months. The family has forgiven you, but you will live with the burden of your actions for the rest of your life. That seems like punishment enough to me.

This woman shouldn't be driving. Period.

She has no fucking excuses. Why is she driving anyways? She's a billionaire and can afford a driver. And in her case, age may be a factor.

I doubt she'll remember the family's name within a month.

This could have happened to anyone.

As for the complaint that rich people shouldn't be allowed to drive cars themselves, if her chauffeur had done this, you'd be raving away at privileged rich people having chauffeurs.

I would think Virginia would try her for murder at least for the unborn.

if it was some poor person they would try and convict him/her in the Richmond Times-Dispatch the next day.

Control, if she was not under the influence or excessively speeding then its would be impossible to show any real intent.

Really?

Really?

PB

sorry didn't read the link

Yeah when the family members of dear old dead Gammy are in court pleading for no jail time that stinks of a payoff. I guess Gammy finally paid off for them. Sad.

Just like Alice Walton, a light slap on the hand. If she'd been poor, she would have been charged with manslaughter. For the victims' family to not want to press charges after losing two family members, you know there was money going under the table.

Prosecutor Nicole Wittmann said Blakeslee survived the accident "because little Charlie took the brunt of the impact," and that the family considers him a hero for saving his mother's life.

I think I just vomited in my mouth

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No ifs ands or buts - you kill another human being (or more) even with no intent nor in the commission of another crime,

Involuntary Manslaughter it is.

Whaddya think would have happened if the driver was poor?

or black? - huh?

JAIL TIME . .

big time.

CC

ps: 6 month license suspension? She should NEVER drive again . . she can well afford a fricken chauffeur

If I was worth 20 billion, I sure as hell wouldn't drive myself anywhere, especially if I was over 70. My grandma refuses to drive even though she is legally able to do so because she knows she no longer had the same abilities.

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not adults.

Nice try.

CC

People die in accidents all the time without someone going to jail. And pretty much every single one of them was caused by somebody screwing up.

the wheel, or there is no proof as to what happened. Also, the victims being compensated prior to the judge's ruling, and with a recommendation from the victim's family is highly unusual.

It's an old American Tune

In the Spirit of the new Holder Tune

Too Successfully Greedy to Prosecute !!

I bet I can post links to articles about folks who by no stretch of the imagination are rich getting probation and no jail time for fatal accidents.

The decision not to lock up an elderly woman who fell asleep and caused a fatal accident is hardly unusual. Indeed, locking someone up in such a situation would be the exception and likely would require some additional factors, such as drug use, alcohol use, repeat offender, etc. Do a google search and you can case after case of drivers getting probation, not jail time, for a reduced charge (typically reckless driving) for fatal accidents. Heck, even cases where the driver was drunk sometimes result in probation not jail time. And by no means are the drivers in these cases all rich.

I wonder if people on here would be howling for her head if she had been one of our own older DUers.

About my own age.

This thread is an example of hate the rich mindlessness and ageism. If Bernie Sanders had done this, would DU be advocating throwing him in jail?

This sort of bigotry makes us no better than members of the other political party.

Age is not an excuse for wreck-less behavior.

Just because you 86 doesn't give you an excuse to put yourself in a situation that endangers others.

not the driver, who was 74.

Heck, they own our judicial system.