September 6, 2008
Parents of DWI victim call for tougher laws
The parents of a little girl who was killed in a high-profile drunken driving crash in 2005 spoke up Tuesday to support a proposed law that prosecutors say would bolster their chances of putting drunken drivers who seriously hurt and kill people behind bars.
Neil and Jennifer Flynn, whose 7-year-old daughter Katie was killed when a drunken driver speeding the wrong way down the Meadowbrook Parkway hit the limousine they were riding in, said the proposed bill would create new ways to charge people who kill while driving drunk.
"It's not enough to feel sorry for us," said Jennifer Flynn. "It's important for this to pass."
Right now, drunken drivers who kill are generally charged with second-degree vehicular manslaughter, which carries a maximum jail sentence of 21/3 to 7 years; second-degree manslaughter, which carries a maximum of 5 to 15 years; or second-degree murder, which can be difficult to prove and carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison, said Eric Phillips, a spokesman for Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice. Rice spoke
in support of the bill along with its sponsor, state Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick), at a news conference Tuesday at the Nassau County Courthouse. Martin Heidgen, the drunken driver in the Flynn's case, was convicted of second-degree murder.
Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota released a statement saying he would also back the bill, saying "I wholeheartedly support legislation such as this which significantly increases the jail time for people who take the life of another while driving drunk."
The proposed legislation would provide new options for prosecutors. "Without these new laws ... most victims will be unable to find justice and we will lose more innocent lives to this epidemic," said Rice.
The proposed options would be aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault. They would be charged in drunken driving cases involving serious injuries or death.
Fuschillo said he is still trying to get a co-sponsor for the bill in the state Assembly.
Stephen LaMagna, Heidgen's defense lawyer, said the fact that Fuschillo and Rice propose aggravated vehicular homicide as a Class B felony -- not an A felony like murder -- proves that murder is too serious a charge for vehicular crimes.
"They are conceding the point that we were making throughout the trial: that no matter how terrible the outcome of a vehicular homicide, it still does not rise to the level of murder."
Rice, however, said there is still room for a murder charge in egregious cases.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
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