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DWI: Is It Murder?

August 2, 2009 4:55 PM

With DWI fatalities staying constant despite all the campaigns against the crime, some prosecutors are pursuing harsher penalties against perpetrators, including long prison terms for those who caused deaths. Bob Simon reports.

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by ixlovexboobies November 12, 2009 12:19 PM EST
Wow Ok this is why people should NOT drink and drive. I am so sorry for the parents of Katie. She was such a cute little girl. And dad your are so right for wanting the guy to die. I do to. This story made me cry so much. :( If you are with someone that has had alcohol in their system do them and many others a favor and take them home yourself.
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by Notsheep August 9, 2009 7:06 PM EDT
What you seek is a risk free society. Driving or riding in a vehicle, motorcycle, airplane, boat, ship, bus, monorail or space shuttle involves risk. Eliminate the risk of alcohol and you still face poor judgment in many forms. Texting, cell phones, PMS or just some dumb schmuk who can't drive for what ever reason.. I too have lost friends to accidents. Alcohol involved in some, not in others. They are all just as dead, just as missed. How do you eliminate all risk? Stay home, bar the doors and don't eat any actual food as there is risk in that as well? Life is tough. There will be losses in a big operation. If DUI is such a henious crime, why are illegals routinely released when apprehended at the scene of an accident they caused when stinking drunk? Because they have no money? It's either that or the same government that is getting so tough on DUI's wants them here - and they know that they drink. They only care about being re-elected, tragicly using your losses as ammunition.
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by dugudr August 9, 2009 3:03 AM EDT
We need more effort into prevention. Drunkard make poor judgement, so why don't we make the party host to give alcohol test for people leaving or seems drunk? The DUI fine is too soft, we need ramp it up exponentially. They need to make payment equal to and separately to their monthly insurance to fight DUI so they can remember every time they pay the bill.
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by Collin1976 August 9, 2009 2:27 AM EDT
Way to harsh.. There are many different levels of drunk driving.. You could have a blood alcohol of .09 and some fool walks out into traffic and now your a murderer.. This guy was inebriated driving the wrong way down the freeway.. 10 years would have been good.
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by goodhumorman August 8, 2009 9:50 PM EDT
Anti-smoking fervor should be directed more toward alcohol than tobacco. It seems the devastation due to drinking far out-weighs the losses of smoking. Overdrinking leads to divorce, job-loss, liver failure, property destruction, vehicle fatalities, violent behavior...the list is endless.
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by commorancy August 7, 2009 7:30 AM EDT
Driving drunk and killing someone is not necessarily murder. Murder usually implies the unlawful intentional act of killing someone, usually with malice aforethought. Yes, in some jurisdictions, this may include the 'depraved heart' or 'extreme recklessness' argument. In this specific case shown in 60 minutes, because he was driving down the wrong side of the road, that could be considered extreme recklessness that lead to deaths. So, in this one case, by legal definitions it could be considered 'murder'. However, that case does not necessarily apply to all instances of drunk driving deaths. It depends entirely on the situation. In this one instance, he could be and was charged with murder because of the way the laws are written combined with the situation surrounding the deaths.

On the flip side, you're also talking about a limo. CBS did not bring up this point at all. Did the limo contribute to the child's death? Was the child properly restrained? You're talking about a vehicle that is designed to encourages unrestrained use inside the vehicle. If the family had chosen to drive home in a standard vehicle with proper safety restraints, would Katie be alive today? Putting her into the limo likely contributed just as much to her death as the impact from the drunk driver's vehicle. I'd like to see statistical data on limo crashes and how many end up in death. I think this would tell the tale. The limo driver, on the other hand, was likely properly restrained. So, his death should be the one that hinges the case and not necessarily the child's death just strictly due to a limo's unsafe design.

Kathleen Rice's arguments are all about tougher sentences, not about stopping drunk driving. She improperly believes that tougher sentences will reduce or stop drunk driving. It won't. This is a false argument. People will still continue to drive drunk even if the sentence were increased to the death penalty. If you truly want to stop drunk driving, then you need to take alcoholic beverages off the market. We've already tried that once and it failed. The only other way is through technological measures in vehicles (i.e., breathalizer tests or blood alcohol tests) that prevent the vehicle from starting if under the influence. Also, licenses should be revoked at the first instance of drunk driving. This is a penalty that carries weight. If you don't have a license, it makes life extremely difficult in so many ways. But, taking a way a license will just mean people will drive without a license (and likely may still drive drunk).

The most effective way to stop people driving drunk is to take alcohol off the market. Increasing penalties won't deter the behavior in determined individuals. Stiffer sentences means we end up with more people in prison hanging off taxpayer dollars for longer periods. That also doesn't help our economy or our society.
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by latinoinjc August 6, 2009 10:03 PM EDT
I watched your story on drunk drivers and wow did it bring that day back to me. That day was june 24th, 2003. On that day a drunk driver took away from me my younger brother, a police officer from our lives. The person only got 19 yrs for what he did. I want to applaud Ms. Rice for what she is doing because things have to change. On june 24th what was taken from me was his laughter because thats what he gave me. I miss him very much. still hurting in new jersey.
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by latinoinjc August 6, 2009 10:02 PM EDT
I watched your story on drunk drivers and wow did it bring that day back to me. That day was june 24th, 2003. On that day a drunk driver took away from me my younger brother, a police officer from our lives. The person only got 19 yrs for what he did. I want to applaud Ms. Rice for what she is doing because things have to change. On june 24th what was taken from me was his laughter because thats what he gave me. I miss him very much. still hurting in new jersey.
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by ckgatz August 6, 2009 12:40 PM EDT
I applaud DA Rice. My 16 year old son John was killed by a drunk driver. This young lady who killed my son was a senior in high school. They both went to the same school, and just happened to be on the same road at the same time at 5:30 on a beautiful, sunny, October afternoon. This young lady made the decision to drink and drive. She only served 9 months in prison, however we have lost our son forever. Fair? I don't think so! We need tougher laws, we need a better solution. I hope that our society will make better strides in the fight against drinking and driving!
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by c_g August 5, 2009 12:44 PM EDT
I have gone through reading some of these comments and am repulsed to say the least. i responded to a few, but i can no longer read the people who are in opposition the the plight of Kathleen Rice. Perhaps if YOU people - who claim alcoholism is a disease, and people don't drive intending to kill - would more fully understand the impact of this socially acceptable, yet completely immoral act if you lost a loved one! How can you even watch this story and be so insensitive?! It is probably because you drink and drive! My father was killed by a drunk driver on my mother's birthday in 2008. It was the worst day of my life. My dad was MY WORLD! I can't even begin to explain how much we have suffered because of this MURDER'S CHOICE to drive drunk, but that is not even the point. MY DAD'S TIME WAS CUT SHORT BECAUSE SOMEONE CHOSE TO DRINK AND DRIVE! Anyone who is so ignorant and insensitive to object to stricter penalties should go through what my family and I have gone through in the past year of our lives. Having my father's bloody shoe and tooth, hearing witness testimony of how his body was "squished" in the car and his last breath, knowing that HE WOULD STILL BE HERE IF SOMEONE DIDN'T ACT SO TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE AND SELFISH! SHAME ON ANY OF YOU WHO DON'T SUPPORT RICE. Try empathy on for size, and read some of the comments of people who lost loved ones to this preventable tragedy. Then imagine it happening to the person you love more than anyone because that is what my dad was to me - surely what this child was to her parents. We cannot change behavior unless we recognize it, and those who refuse to recognize it are as guilty as the drunk drivers.
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