Traffic deaths occur with alarming regularity here in New Jersey, many of these crashes occur as a result of alleged impaired driving. State police and municipal law enforcement officers are constantly patrolling Garden State highways and surface streets looking for drivers who may be operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or prescription medication.
Representing motorists involved in drunken driving arrest in Ocean, Bergen, Passaic and Monmouth County, I and my staff of experienced drunk driving lawyers understand the circumstances that can lead to a DWI or drug DUI arrest. Whether the charges are legitimate depend on the individual situation and the evidence that the prosecuting attorney has at his or her disposal.
When it comes to fatal drunken driving accidents, the police and the courts are not likely to be sympathetic to an accused driver in light of a DWI crash that has killed another individual. While each case is different, driving while intoxicated and causing an injury accident or fatal crash is not something anyone wants to happen to them.
Not long ago, a Millville, NJ, resident was sentenced to five years in prison in connection with a 2009 collision that killed a young man and injured his aunt, grandmother and cousin. According to news reports, Jessica Lane was the driver of a vehicle that rear-ended another car carrying Derrick Rosado, 22. Based on police reports, Rosado was riding in the backseat of the car, when it was struck from behind by Lane’s vehicle.
Back in October, Lane pled guilty to charges of vehicular homicide and assault by auto, as well as being intoxicated at the time of the crash. Sentenced to five years in jail, she will have to serve a minimum of 85 percent of that sentence in order to qualify for parole, which is reportedly set at three years once she is released from prison. The sentence for the assault charge — 18 months — will run concurrent to the longer sentence. She was also fined for the drunk driving offense.
New Jersey woman gets five years for death of Myrtle Beach High graduate, TheSunNews.com, January 11, 2011