dui manslaughter

Published on: October 31, 2016

DUI Case Headed to Court After Multiple Postponements

Judges will often grant postponements of cases involving DUI in Los Angeles if the prosecutor or the defending lawyer can provide a good reason for the delay. But a judge in Shasta County, California, finally reached her limit on granting reprieves and ordered a defendant to be ready for her day in court.

According to the Record Searchlight, Judge Cara Beatty was determined that Virginia Lyn Anderson of Redding, California, would have her day in court during the last week in October. Police say that Anderson was driving under the influence of methamphetamine and other drugs back in April 2014 when she collided with a motorcycle ridden by Hayley Marie Riggins. The crash killed Riggins, 27.

Anderson was initially supposed to stand trial in November 2014, but the judge has postponed her trial seven times since then. Most recently, the defense sought to get the trial postponed another time while they were appealing the specific charges filed against Anderson.

Published on: October 12, 2016

Jury Finds Police Spouse Guilty Of DUI Deaths

by Michael Kraut

Having a friend on the force may occasionally help someone avoid charges for a Los Angeles DUI. But that’s not the case when the aftermath of the drinking and driving includes two deaths.

In Cook County, Illinois, a jury found 47-year-old Lisa Elner guilty of charges stemming from a January 2013 crash. Elner and two friends, Michelle Miranda, 37, and Sandra Frankum, 36, had been out celebrating Frankum’s birthday at a local bar. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, prosecutors said that Elner was under the influence of both alcohol and cocaine when she grabbed her keys and said she was okay to drive because she had her “cop card.” She was referring to the business card of her husband, a Chicago police officer.

Published on: September 7, 2016

Couple Donates Infant’s Organs After DUI Tragedy

by Michael Kraut

Deaths caused by crashes involving a driver who is DUI in Los Angeles are always heartbreaking because they are so unnecessary and preventable. It’s somehow worse when the victim is an infant, and the child’s parents try to salvage something good from their devastation.

Mixed martial arts fighter Marcus Kowal lost his young son over Labor Day weekend when a 72-year-old woman hit the toddler’s stroller in Hawthorne, California. The 15-year-old aunt of Liam Mikael Kowal was pushing him in a stroller through a pedestrian crosswalk with flashing yellow lights on Saturday, September 3rd. Donna Marie Higgins hit the pair and then tried to flee the scene, but witnesses followed her and blocked her SUV to prevent her escape.

When emergency responders arrived, they found Liam still strapped in the stroller and his teenaged aunt lying near the crosswalk. Liam was not breathing, but they managed to revive him and rush him to Harbor UCLA Medical Center. However, the child had suffered irreversible brain injuries and his parents made the difficult decision to take him off life support and donate his organs to another young child. They said that they hoped the donation would save another child’s life and spare other parents the tragedy they are facing.
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Published on: June 20, 2016

DUI Driver Charged With Manslaughter After Accident Leads to Death of Unborn Baby

by Michael Kraut

Under a pilot program that became law in 2010, those convicted of DUI in Los Angeles County must use an ignition interlock device on any vehicles they drive for at least five months after a DUI arrest.

Why these draconian rules? Advocates of IID laws are pointing to a recent incident in Miami, Florida, to make the case that tough rules prevent recidivism and save lives.

Jessica Crane, 39, had racked up multiple driving violations before she plowed into a pregnant mother and her two children in Miami in early May. She had also allegedly lost her license 14 times because of failure to pay her fines. According to the Miami Herald, Crane should have been using an ignition interlock device on any vehicle that she drove. But her 2008 Infiniti didn’t have one, so Crane allegedly drove while under the influence and ended up killing an unborn baby. (Her BAC measured 0.22 almost three hours after the crash.)
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Published on: April 29, 2016

Sentencing for DUI Driver Who Killed Three

by Michael Kraut

There’s often some sense of relief when a driver convicted of multiple deaths due to DUI in Los Angeles goes to jail; at least that person will be off the road for a few years. But in Anderson County, South Carolina, a recent DUI sentencing has left little more than a sense of loss and waste due to a young man’s poor decision one evening.

According to WYFF News 4, Riley McDermott, age 25, had gone out with his roommate to get chicken wings on the evening of November 8, 2014. He ended up drinking too much, getting behind the wheel, and crossing the center line of the road. He was going 73 mph when he slammed into a car carrying five young people. The crash killed Amber Hope Perkins, 17, Jessica Roberts, 20, and Cory Simmonds, 20. Jessica’s sister, 17-year old Samantha, suffered injuries in the crash. Amber’s sister, Cheyenne Queen, will face lifelong problems because of her extensive injuries.

McDermott reached a plea agreement with the Anderson County prosecutor. In return for a sentence of 18 years in prison, he pled guilty to three counts of felony DUI with death and two counts of felony DUI with manslaughter. The maximum sentence could have been 135 years in prison.

Published on: April 4, 2016

Spring Break Horror: DUI Drivers Bring Tragic Endings to Family Vacations

by Michael Kraut

The damage done by drivers convicted of DUI in Los Angeles and other areas can last for years. Take the case of two families—one from Columbus, Ohio, and the other from Las Vegas—who had very little time to enjoy their memories of their recently-completed vacations. Accidents caused by DUI drivers ended the lives of some of these travelers, leaving the survivors with awful, painful recollections instead of happy ones.

The extended Crowell family was on their way home from a memorable trip to Disney World when 35-year-old Cory Sheward of Tiffin, Ohio, collided head on with the family’s car. According to reports, he had been driving the wrong way on Interstate 77. Police believe he had crossed the median and had been heading south in the northbound lanes for at least two miles before he slammed into the Crowell’s car.

Sheward killed four people: Carlisa Crowell, age 29; Maxine Wade, age 27; Tasha Freeman, age 9; and Aubrey Willoubey, age 6. The four other passengers suffered serious injuries, including Crowell’s 28-year-old brother, Thomas, who had brain injuries. Reports say he was only breathing with the help of a respirator. Police will be charging Seward with four counts of DUI causing serious bodily injury.

Published on: March 9, 2016

DUIs Turning Deadly: Car Salesman Dies in Freak DUI Crash

by Michael Kraut

Although police officers arrest people from all walks of life on charges of DUI in Los Angeles, it’s not often that those DUIs relate directly to a job. But two separate incidents—one resulting in fatal injuries—demonstrate how people in some occupations may be more at risk when it comes to driving under the influence.

The first case involves a Pennsylvania nurse who forgot that he was on call to assist in emergency surgery. Richard Pieri had just returned home after enjoying time off at the Mohegan Sun casino; he reportedly had drunk at least four beers when he got the summons to go to the VA Medical Center near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. A surveillance video at the hospital showed Pieri bumping his vehicle into a concrete barrier at the parking lot before he headed up to assist the surgical team. (One of his jobs was to monitor the patient’s vital signs during the operation; fortunately for both the patient and Pieri, the surgery went well.) Coworkers noted that Pieri had not seemed his usual self during surgery and reported the incident to management. Police later became involved, charging Pieri with reckless endangering another person, DUI and public drunkenness.

Published on: March 3, 2016

Los Angeles DUI Driver Wins New Trial

by Michael Kraut

A recent ruling in a case involving a DUI in Los Angeles County has overturned the second degree murder conviction of a woman who hit a pedestrian and kept driving—with the pedestrian stuck to her windshield.

In February 2014, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury convicted Sherri Lynn Wilkins of second degree murder and two counts of DUI in the death of Philip Moreno, 31, of Torrance California. A judge later sentenced her to 55 years in prison. But after her conviction, Wilkin’s defense attorneys argued that prosecutors unjustly introduced Wilkins long history of drug addiction and serious crime as evidence in the case.

The three-judge panel from California’s Second District Court of Appeal agreed. They noted that “The rap sheet reflected numerous arrests and several convictions, including for offenses such as drug possession crimes, prostitution, and thefts. We conclude admission of the rap sheet was prejudicial error requiring reversal of the murder and driving under the influence convictions.”

Published on: February 3, 2016

Can Los Angeles DUI Drivers Be Guilty If They’re Not Driving?

by Michael Kraut

When police arrest a driver on charges of DUI in Los Angeles and causing a death, you can generally assume that motorist was behind the wheel when the accident occurred. But James Ryan, a 28-year-old part-time student in New York, could face up to 25 years in jail for causing the death of a police officer, even though he wasn’t driving at the moment the accident occurred. A jury may soon be deciding his fate.

According to multiple media accounts of the October 2012 accident, Ryan clipped a BMW on the Long Island Expressway and then stopped his vehicle in the high occupancy lane (HOV). That’s when another car hit his. Ryan got out of his Toyota after the second accident and waited by the side of the road for the police to arrive.

Nassau County Police Officer Joseph Olivieri pulled up on the right shoulder of the road, then crossed over and stood close to Ryan’s car in the HOV lane. Another vehicle, an SUV, slammed into Ryan’s car and into Officer Olivieri, killing him. Ryan was unhurt, but other police officers at the scene measured his blood alcohol content at 0.13.
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Published on: September 21, 2015

Unhappy Fate for Daughter of Anti-DUI Crusader

by Michael Kraut

Imagine how would you feel if you spent a career trying to get drivers suspected of DUI in Los Angeles off the road—only to have your own daughter fall victim to one?

The online media has been full of stories about Officer Dan Shragal, a 20-year veteran with the Indianapolis Metropolitan police. During his time on the force, Shragal has arrested close to 4,000 drivers suspected of DUI. It’s too bad he couldn’t have stopped at least one more.

Shragal’s daughter, 22-year-old Kirstin Burton, was driving down the road in Dayton, Ohio, with her 14-month-old son Orion on August 22nd.when a pickup truck driven by 32-year-old Walter Bradley slammed into her car. The impact pushed Burton’s car into a tree and killed her outright—emergency personnel pronounced her dead at the scene. It also critically injured her son, who was riding in the back seat of the car. Hospital personnel were uncertain at first if they were going to be able to save him because he had lost so much blood, but his prognosis is now good.

One eyewitness said that Bradley first hit the car of his (the witness’) wife, then hit a taxicab before Burton’s vehicle. Bradley tried to flee the scene, but witnesses chased him down and held him until police arrived. They reported that he was covered in blood.

In a sad irony, Officer Shragal received the call about the crash when he was taking a quick break from his job, which that evening involved working at a DUI checkpoint in Indianapolis.

Shragal said that his daughter’s death has made him more committed than ever to keeping DUI drivers off the road. Fox 59 News quoted him saying, “I don’t want to have another father bury his daughter or his son or children to lose a mom or a dad. It is destructive.”

Officer Shragal’s tragedy is profound, and it vividly illustrates the unimaginable costs of DUI. If you stand accused of DUI, stories like this must make you stop and take notice. Not only do you want to clear your name (if possible), but you also want to get to the root of why you got in trouble in the first place and do whatever it takes to make amends and become a much safer and more conscientious driver.

As a frequent contributor to respected media, like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Good Morning America, Los Angeles DUI attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers understands what it takes to build successful defenses in complex DUI cases. Contact him and his team today to schedule a consultation.