Texting and driving do not mix. Driving requires keeping your eyes on the road and both hands on the steering wheel. You can’t watch the road and handle the steering wheel when you text. A 19-year-old woman in Browersville, Michigan recently learned this lesson the hard way and now faces a year in jail.
The Fergus Falls Journal recently reported that the suspect plead guilty to criminal vehicular homicide and misdemeanor reckless driving for her role in a crash that killed another motorist. According to court records, the woman sent 15 text messages prior to the crash. Her vehicle crossed a center line and collided with another car driven by the victim, who died from her injuries. The suspect was also seriously injured and had to be transported to the hospital.
The guilty plea was part of a plea deal that calls for a one-year prison term, a fine and 10 years probation. It also includes a four-year stay of prison time contingent upon completion of probation, and the suspect could be sent to jail if she violates probation. At press time, the plea deal was awaiting acceptance by the presiding judge.
A Castle Rock criminal defense attorney will always try to get his client the shortest sentence possible regardless of the crime. Of course, there are crimes that carry lengthy jail sentences even at the minimum term. Reckless driving in this case, as well as in Colorado, is a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of a year in jail. In this case of this suspect, however, the reduction in sentence most likely applies to her felony charges of vehicular manslaughter, which carries a longer jail sentence than reckless driving.
