12

7/4/2010 11:11:32 PM

Quote :

"Raleigh, N.C. — A man with a history of DWI convictions deserves a new trial stemming from a drunken-driving wreck more than five years ago that killed a Durham grandmother, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The appellate judges ruled that Kenneth Wayne Maready had ineffective counsel and might not have understood his defense attorney's trial strategy. Maready was fleeing a traffic stop when he hit and killed 61-year-old Kay Stokes on Feb. 13, 2005, and injured her 5-year-old granddaughter. Police said his blood-alcohol level was more than three times the allowable level, and at the time, he had a revoked license and six drunken-driving convictions on his record. Fourteen months later, Maready was sentenced to 50 to 62 years in prison on a number of convictions, including second-degree murder and two misdemeanor counts of assault with a deadly weapon. "I don't feel like I have any rights," Stokes' daughter, Marcy Henley, said Wednesday. "He gets the right to have another trial, and my momma is 6 feet under the ground?" Henley said the court's decision leaves her feeling cheated by the system. "Now, it looks like Maready has found a loophole," she said. In his appeal, Maready contended that his counsel's assistance was ineffective and that he should be granted a new trial on the murder and assault charges. His defense attorneys never contested the assault charges, and they said that Maready took responsibility for Stokes' death, even though he never pleaded guilty. The appeals court and the North Carolina Supreme Court have previously ruled on other aspects of Maready’s appeal. In January 2008, appellate judges found that the initial traffic stop was unlawful, that some of Maready's convictions were too old to have been considered as evidence in the trial and that the trial judge gave improper instructions to jurors. The Supreme Court overturned that decision in December 2008, saying there was enough evidence to support deputies' attempt to pull over Maready. Justices split on whether older DWI convictions should have been allowed and whether the judge's instructions were proper. They sent the case back to the appeals court to address other claims of judicial error that weren't previously addressed. The North Carolina Attorney General's Office said prosecutors haven't decided whether to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. If there is no appeal, a new trial will happen in Durham County, possibly later this year, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts said. Henley said she is tired of years of appeals. "I'm just sick of it, so sick of it," she said."

7/7/2010 10:20:14 PM

Dude was driving drunk. He killed someone. Case closed. What is there to fucking appeal?

7/7/2010 10:25:00 PM

I guess a portion of 50-62 months in prison.

7/7/2010 10:36:56 PM

Quote :

" years"

7/7/2010 11:24:21 PM

Quote :

" A judge declared a mistrial on all counts Tuesday for a woman accused of driving an SUV involved in a head-on collision that killed four people in 2007. Deanna Fridley, 26, had been charged with four counts of second-degree murder, charges that could have led to life in prison upon conviction. She was accused of driving a GMC Yukon Denali that crossed into oncoming traffic along state Route 76 about three miles east of the Pala Casino shortly before midnight Dec. 14, 2007. The SUV collided head-on with a Toyota Camry. Jurors were deadlocked 11-1, with a majority of jurors believing that Fridley was the driver in the fatal crash. “I’m really happy. It was a hard-fought case,” said James Boyd, Fridley’s attorney. “We at least convinced someone that she wasn’t driving.” Fridley will remain in county jail, where she is being held on $3 million. Prosecutors have said they will retry the case. Rubi Baez, 46, and her husband, Luis Baez, 51, of Vista, and Jesus De Santiago, 45, and his wife, Lina De Santiago, 46, of Escondido, were killed as Jesus De Santiago’s car rounded a bend. “They had no chance,” Deputy District Attorney Brenda Daly said during the trial. The couples had been out for a night of dining and gambling at two North County casinos. Fridley was drunk and high on methamphetamine at the time of the crash — a fact not disputed by her attorney. She also didn’t have a valid driver’s license. But it didn’t matter, Boyd argued, because Fridley wasn’t driving. Within hours of the crash, Fridley and her passenger, Anthony Boles, were telling authorities that the other had been behind the wheel. The California Highway Patrol originally arrested Boles and issued a statement identifying him as the driver. Even several weeks later, although Boles had not been officially charged as the driver, CHP officials were still maintaining they had arrested the right person. But after a lengthy investigation, which included security video from the casino showing Fridley getting into the driver’s side of the Yukon, she was arrested and arraigned from a bed at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, where she was recovering from serious injuries. Fridley told jurors that after driving from the casino she quickly realized she was too intoxicated to continue, and she and Boles switched seats. The crash happened about two minutes later. Daly, the prosecutor, argued that less than three minutes had elapsed between when Fridley got behind the wheel and when the first 911 calls came in. There simply wasn’t enough time, Daly said, for the driver and passenger to switch seats. The defense said it could have been as much as three and a half minutes, and a switch would have only taken 15 or 20 seconds. Medical experts for the prosecution testified that Fridley’s injuries were consistent with her having been driving; experts for the defense said the opposite. Boles testified that he was not driving. He said he remembers being surprised at how fast Fridley was traveling as she passed a second car on the two-lane road and then lost control of the SUV, hit a guardrail, and veered into the oncoming lane. The Yukon burst into flames after Fridley and Boles had been rescued. The fire destroyed any DNA evidence that might have been useful in determining who was driving. Fridley said she remembered little about the crash other than going fast and then seeing headlights coming at them. Most of the witnesses who arrived at the crash site within a minute or two were unable to say who was driving. The Yukon had flipped onto its roof. Fridley was rescued from the driver’s side, Boles from the passenger side, but Fridley’s attorney explained to the jury how that only made sense. He said someone in the passenger side would naturally try to crawl out the driver’s side and vice versa. One witness, who knew Boles and Fridley, testified that she asked Fridley who was driving and she said, “I was.” Other witnesses said they never saw the woman have such a conversation with Fridley, and the witness admitted while being cross-examined that she was more of a friend of Boles than Fridley."

LYING, MURDERING BITCH

7/8/2010 12:29:38 AM

Quote :

"Fridley was rescued from the driver’s side, Boles from the passenger side, but Fridley’s attorney explained to the jury how that only made sense. He said someone in the passenger side would naturally try to crawl out the driver’s side and vice versa."

lol wut.

Granted, we don't have all the evidence, but it does sure sound like she's the driver from what we're given. That 1 juror must have seen something to convince him or her.

7/8/2010 9:21:18 AM

there's always one that will fuck it up.

7/8/2010 10:08:58 AM

Should have charged them both

7/8/2010 11:57:38 AM

I would like to have seen that lawyer argue that topic in court. Must have been impressive (or the juror(s) must have been that retarded).

7/8/2010 12:00:22 PM

I'm still trying to imagine how that could have possibly been explained.

Two people trapped in an upside-down car will attempt to go through each other to go outside of the opposite windows? I think I'd have a hard time not laughing out loud at them.

I mean, I can see them both going out of the same window if one was obstructed or something, but for them to have switched places post crash.... Juror #12

Quote :

"Dude was driving drunk. He killed someone. Case closed. What is there to fucking appeal?"

I concur.


[Edited on July 8, 2010 at 2:39 PM. Reason : earlier case]

7/8/2010 2:38:06 PM

Quote :

"More than 1,200 cited for DWI over holiday weekend Posted: 4:43 p.m. today Updated: 5:32 p.m. today State and local law enforcement officers cited 1,291 motorists for DWI during the week of June 28 to July 4, according to the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. Officers conducted more than 4,600 sobriety checkpoints and dedicated patrols as part of “Booze It & Lose It: Operation Firecracker.” The greatest number of DWI citations, 87, came in Mecklenberg County. Seventy-seven DWI arrests were made in Wake County. The week-long sweep resulted in a total 49,235 traffic and criminal citations statewide. "

how fucking dumb do you have to be to get a DWI on 4th of July weekend??? It's known that there are checkpoints EVERYWHERE...

7/8/2010 8:34:21 PM

^ I had to take an otherwise intelligent persons keys away at like 2:45 the night of July 4th and then tell him he must have lost them. Dude swore up and down he could drive.

7/8/2010 10:02:59 PM

Quote :

"Goldsboro, N.C. — The driver who allegedly caused a crash that killed two motorcyclists and seriously injured three others in 2009 was found dead at his home Friday, according to the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. Billy Joe Fowler's wife found him on the floor of their home on Amy Court in Goldsboro before 6:30 a.m., Lt. Carl Lancaster said. Deputies are investigating and Fowler's body was taken to the Wayne County medical examiner for an autopsy to determine how he died, Lancaster said. Fowler, driving his truck on U.S. Highway 13, crossed the center line on April 18, 2009, and struck five of six motorcyclists in the other lane. Two of the motorcyclists – Charles Poe Jr., 59, of Greenville, and Lenwood Whitley, 57, of Chocowinity – were killed. Troopers charged Fowler with driving while impaired, two counts of felony death by a motor vehicle, one count of felony serious injury and reckless driving. The Wayne County district attorney dismissed the charges against Fowler upon learning of his death."

7/9/2010 9:52:56 PM

Quote :

"Police in Connecticut say a Darien resident was killed when the person's car went airborne, crashed through a house, hit a tree and then ran into a second house. Police say the car was clearly exceeding the 25 mph speed limit. They did not immediately release the victim's name. The crash occurred about 1:30 a.m. Sunday when the car went airborne, flew through the unoccupied bedroom of one house, hit a tree and went into the kitchen of the second house. No injuries were reported in the homes. Police say the homes sustained serious structural damage and at least one was in danger of collapsing as they tried to remove the car. The accident remains under investigation."

I am gonna conjecture this may have been alcohol related.

7/11/2010 10:53:06 PM

^^An hero.

7/12/2010 12:20:15 AM

Quote :

"BURLINGTON, N.C. - Burlington Police say a woman was driving a minivan drunk when she hit a man who she had previously been arguing with. Witnesses told police that Kenneth James Hodge, 28 of Elon, and Ashley Ann Tocharoen, 26, of Elon were arguing in the parking lot of the Country Club Lanes at 3010 S. Church St. in Burlington just after midnight on Saturday. Tocharoen tried to leave in a minivan as Hodge clung to the driver's door. Witnesses say Hodge let go of the door and Tocharoen drove off. A few minutes later, police say Tocharoen returned to the parking lot and witnesses say she was driving erratically. Hodge was walking away from the van when police say Tocharoen drove in his direction and hit him. The impact busted the front windshield and knocked Hodge to the ground. Police say Hodge had a visible head injury when they arrived at the scene. Hodge was taken to Alamance Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released. Tocharoen was arrested and charged with DWI, registering a .17 on the Intoxlyzer, AWDWISI and assault on a government official. She was being held in the Alamance County jail under a $1,500 bond."

7/14/2010 2:06:46 AM

^^^that's one helluva wreck!!

7/14/2010 9:00:42 AM

^if you're gonna crash, best to do it in style.

7/14/2010 9:18:27 AM

Quote :

"(CNN) -- Roy McConnell and his three sons left their wives and children to go see the film "Predators" in St. Petersburg, Florida, Saturday night. They were enjoying a family reunion with a week at the beach. Around 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning, Anais McConnell woke up and noticed her husband, Nathan, wasn't lying beside her. She got out of bed and woke up the other women in the house. They waited on the sofa for the men to return, hoping they hadn't been carjacked. They saw a television report about an accident involving a black car, similar to the one the men drove to the movies, that left four people dead, but they didn't want to consider the possibility that it could be their loved ones. Anais McConnell said police weren't returning their phone calls. Hours later, authorities showed up on their porch to bring them the news: Their husbands were dead. Anais McConnell, as well as her sister-in-law and mother-in-law, were widows. Nathan, 24; his father, 51, and his two brothers, Elroy III, 28, and Kelly, 19, were killed by a drunk driver who ran a red light, police said. Their widows spoke about their losses during a news conference Tuesday in Orlando, Florida, holding framed photographs of the men. They said they hope that sharing their story will make people think twice before getting behind the wheel after drinking. "He wanted to teach our son how to play football and how to treat a girl right," said Elroy McConnell's wife, Sandie. "I know that people will drink and drive, but know that this could have been any of you. I hope and pray that the next time you drink and drive you think about this." Demetrius Jordan, the driver of the other car, has been charged with four counts of manslaughter while driving under the influence and one count of serious injury while driving under the influence, according to a report from the St. Petersburg Police Department. Jordan, 20, and his passenger, Mario Robinson, also 20, were taken to Bayfront Hospital with serious injuries soon after the midnight accident. The McConnell men were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the report. Kelly McConnell had celebrated his 19th birthday with his family and girlfriend the day before, a family member said. As the women described the men's accomplishments and characters, there were some chuckles and many tears. One of the women, debilitated by grief, was carried off in the middle of the news conference. The reality was still hard to accept, but they didn't want to dwell on why this happened to them, a few said. "I hope we could work toward forgiveness," said Amy Voelker, Roy McConnell's widow, who also lost her three sons. "We want to honor our guys... it would be tragic to let that young man's decision affect us in a negative way." Voelker said the family members who stood beside her during the news conference represented only a fraction of the people affected by the men's deaths, and she hoped others could learn from the horror that had befallen her family. "I'd hate for anyone else to have to bear this type of tragedy," she said. As the news conference ended, family members placed the men's photographs around a tree, where others could see and remember."

8/3/2010 7:51:53 PM

^wow. that is incredibly sad.

8/3/2010 8:43:15 PM

that is so fucked up. Dude got drunk and wiped out an entire line.

what a fuckhole.

8/3/2010 8:46:32 PM

Quote :

"Tocharoen was arrested and charged with DWI, registering a .17 on the Intoxlyzer, AWDWISI and assault on a government official. She was being held in the Alamance County jail under a $1,500 bond"

I know people that have been arrested for drunk and disorderly and been held on higher bond than that.

8/3/2010 9:47:43 PM

Its hard to get a bond for DWI because defendants are afforded the right to seek their own chemical test in an addition to chemical test administered by LE. Its hard to do that if they have a high bond.

8/4/2010 10:52:12 AM

Murder charges brought in fatal DWI-related crash

Quote :

"GREENSBORO — Prosecutors brought new charges on Tuesday against a woman accused in a DWI-related crash that killed three passengers, charging her with three counts of second-degree murder. Amanda Christine Sperduti, 21, of Winston-Salem was indicted on those counts and others Tuesday by a Guilford County grand jury in connection with a fatal Feb. 13 crash in Browns Summit. Court records show that Sperduti's blood alcohol content registered 0.20. Sperduti is accused of killing Scott Bedwell, 23; Sascha Hoffman, 18; and Taylor McCaskill, 18, who were passengers in the car she was driving that night. She is accused of driving her mother's 2008 Acura 90 mph on Fairgrove Church Road near N.C. 150. A crash report indicates Sperduti lost control of the vehicle as she rounded a corner and struck a tree, ejecting or partially ejecting everyone in the vehicle, which split in two. The speed limit for that stretch of road is 45 mph. In addition to the counts of murder, the grand jury indicted Sperduti on three counts of aggravated felony death by motor vehicle and one misdemeanor count each of possession of a malt beverage by a minor, driving after consuming alcohol as a minor, exceeding a safe speed and drug possession. She also faces a count of driving while intoxicated, but she was not indicted on that charge Tuesday. Sperduti didn't turn 21 until May. She is out of jail on bond while awaiting trial. Court officials said the murder charges will be served on Sperduti at an upcoming court date. If she is convicted, Sperduti faces between seven to 10 years in prison for each count of second-degree murder and three to four years on each charge of aggravated felony death by motor vehicle. In early July, agents with N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement charged Theresa Bruckner, 51, and Kyle Bruckner, 22, of Browns Summit with providing the alcohol that contributed to the fatal crash. Each was charged with three counts each of aiding and abetting a person younger than 21 with possessing an alcoholic beverage. Agents say the Bruckners provided alcohol at their Browns Summit home to Sperduti, Hoffman and McCaskill before the accident. Troopers who investigated the crash found a nearly empty liquor bottle and an empty beer can at the crash scene."

http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/09/08/article/murder_charges_brought_against_driver_fatal_dwi_related_crash

9/8/2010 4:15:18 PM

Quote :

"He said someone in the passenger side would naturally try to crawl out the driver’s side and vice versa."

Having crawled out of an upside-down car, after a wreck, dazed as hell:
[NO]

9/8/2010 4:27:27 PM

^^

bullshit. those three passengers consented to get in the car knowing she was intoxicated. It's not like she hit 3 innocent people while drunk, or held them at gun point to get in the car.

up to ((10+4)*3)= 42 years in prison for this? that's a life sentence. Actual murderers get less sentences than that.

9/8/2010 5:03:48 PM

but she (was) hot

9/12/2010 2:50:11 PM

I know this girl and her ex-bf.

9/12/2010 3:38:45 PM

that's true, apparently life sentences are only 20 years. THANKS COURT SYSTEM!!

9/12/2010 3:40:17 PM

Quote :

"Police said that a suspected drunken driver struck a broken-down car along Interstate 440 early Saturday, killing a 29-year-old Raleigh man. Adolphus Markeith Cannady and Donsha Worsley were pushing Cannady's disabled Ford Explorer in the far right lane near the New Bern Avenue on-ramp around 4:30 a.m. They were struck by a Dodge Charger, driven by Michael Newkirk, as he was entering the highway. Cannady was killed, and Worsley was taken to a local hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries, police said. He was listed in good condition Sunday at WakeMed and was expected to be released soon. According to court documents, Newkirk fled the scene on foot before submitting to blood alcohol tests. He tested with a blood alcohol level of 0.21, according to an arrest warrant. The legal limit for impaired driving in North Carolina is .08. Police said Newkirk made an attempt to swerve and avoid crashing, but he was unsuccessful. Two lanes of I-440 were shut down for about four hours after the wreck. Newkirk, 44, was charged with felony death by motor vehicle, driving while impaired, felony hit and run, felony serious injury by vehicle and driving with a revoked license. He was given a $540,000 bond and scheduled to appear in court Monday. Dakim Saunders Summers, 32, of 1510 Neuse Blvd. in New Bern, was also charged with aiding and abetting DWI, and aiding and abetting driving while license revoked. Police said that Summers owns the car Newkirk was driving and was a passenger at the time of the wreck. He posted a $1,000 bond Saturday and is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 2. Another passenger, Octavia Monique Davis, 33, was not charged in the incident. Dayton Newkirk said that his brother is "very remorseful for what happened" and that he didn't mean to do it. He said relatives talked with Newkirk briefly and told him to "hold his head up and pray." Newkirk lives with his fiancee and recently started a new job, his brother said. He has a previous DWI conviction from 1993 and convictions for driving with a revoked license in 1993 and 2000, according to state Department of Correction records."

1/2/2011 8:04:43 PM

anyone else notice the scores of abandoned cars on the shoulders of 40 and 440 this past few days?

i can only assume its from the scores of idiots arrested for DUIs in the wee hours of 1-1-2011

1/2/2011 10:59:23 PM

When I went to work saturday there were cars everywhere next to all the roads.

1/2/2011 11:51:01 PM

or idiots using DUIs instead of DWIs.

1/3/2011 12:18:38 AM

thanks, i appreciate your candor. having never experienced either one, i figured it was a 50/50 shot at getting it right

1/4/2011 1:20:41 PM

Could this be alcohol related?!?!?

Quote :

"Raleigh, N.C. — Raleigh police credited media coverage with helping lead to the arrest Friday of a woman who they say struck a man as he walked on Hillsborough Street Jan. 1. The man, whose name was not released, was injured when a red car described as a 1998-2000 model Mazda Miata hit him. The driver, Virginia Elizabeth Dresser, 19, surrendered to police and faces charges of felony hit-and-run and reckless driving. She was being held Friday on $10,000 bond. "

http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/8901369/

1/7/2011 10:21:51 PM

or drugs perhaps?

1/7/2011 11:30:36 PM

Quote :

"Defense enters pre-trial motions for Raleigh doctor After a three-month delay, the trial for a Raleigh doctor charged with murder in a wreck that killed a ballerina is underway. The jury was seated Monday and Tuesday, and opening statements were expected to begin at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Raymond Dwight Cook, a former facial plastic surgeon, is charged with second-degree murder, driving while impaired and felony death by vehicle in the Sept. 11, 2009 wreck that killed Elena Bright Shapiro, 20. Before trial, Cook's lawyers submitted a series of motions to Superior Court Judge Osmond Smith. They asked to suppress the chemical analysis of Cook's blood, but Smith said withheld his ruling until the evidence is introduced at trial. The defense asked that a radar detector found in Cook's car and autopsy photos be excluded from evidence. Smith denied both motions. Cook's lawyers also asked to limit testimony from a witness who is expected to testify that Cook was kissing a woman outside Piper's Tavern, where he was reportedly drinking, before the accident. They asked that testimony of an expert witness expected to testify about speed be excluded. Smith withheld his ruling on both motions until the witnesses are called to testify. Smith withheld rulings on two other motions, protecting the defendant's Miranda rights and suppressing any statements made by the defendant at the scene or the hospital, until the trial begins. ..."

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9116815/

Is it normal to try to suppress that much material?

2/15/2011 2:50:31 PM

Yes. Attack the stop/wreck, attack the RS/PC, attack the chemical analysis.

2/15/2011 3:00:41 PM

There's a "HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO MEEEEEEEEE???" face if I've ever seen one.

2/15/2011 3:29:09 PM

Just remember to pop open a fresh bottle of booze after the wreck, no telling when you actually started drinking

2/15/2011 5:51:05 PM

There are ways around that

2/15/2011 6:29:54 PM

Quote :

"or idiots using DUIs instead of DWIs."

OMFG THE TECHNICALITY POLICE!

2/15/2011 6:52:34 PM

The kid in the op is doing 8 years

2/15/2011 7:09:58 PM

EMT angered by actions of suspect in fatal wreck
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9127755/

Wow. Douche.

2/17/2011 11:49:32 AM

Which one, the EMT for getting angry with a drunk trying to "help" after having just killed someone?

2/17/2011 12:40:38 PM

No, the drunk plastic surgeon playing paramedic.

2/17/2011 12:47:33 PM

http://www.wral.com/news/video/9127797/#/vid9127797

You can watch the trial live

2/17/2011 12:47:51 PM

^^Oh, sorry. For a second there I thought you were coming down on the paramedic.

2/17/2011 12:49:05 PM

Jury views ballerina's crashed car; doctor does not
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9134868/

2/18/2011 5:05:39 PM