Justice

[R. Richard]

Comment?

JUST 15 DAYS IN DWI SLAY

A millionaire drunken driver who killed a Brooklyn woman was sentenced to 15 days in jail yesterday - a wrist slap the victim's relatives blasted as a "rich man's sentence."

George Anderson "got away with murder," fumed Lilly Alias after the Long Island software-firm founder was led away from Manhattan Criminal Court to begin his term.

"While we never expected a death sentence or an extraordinarily long prison term, a plea arrangement which amounts to nothing more that 15 days is simply insufficient," she said.

A drunken Anderson mowed down Alias' sister, Florence Cioffi, in his Mercedes SUV on Jan. 24, 2008. He then fled before returning to the scene of the lower Manhattan crime 20 minutes later.

He was initially charged with vehicular manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide but was able to plead guilty to misdemeanor DWI and leaving the scene of an accident because of problems the prosecution said it had with its case.

Assistant District Attorney David Hammer said the biggest problem was that Cioffi herself was drunk and might have contributed to the accident by walking out between parked cars while trying to hail a cab.

Anderson, 47, read an emotional statement to Judge James Burke before his sentencing, where he apologized to Cioffi's family.

"I live every moment with the horror of this event," he said, before breaking down to the point where his lawyer, Stacey Richman, had to finish reading the statement for him.

Alias and other family members, who've filed a civil suit against Anderson, made clear they'll never forgive him.

Their lawyer, Jeffrey Minsk, noted that witnesses said Anderson never applied the brakes after running down Cioffi, who was engaged to be married, and that he initially fled even though his passenger was begging him to stop.

 

[Pure]

it's interesting, rr, that neither the right nor the left has picked up the issue of penalties for drunk driving.

as far as i can see and speculate, this is because wealthy businessmen, just as labor leaders, and specifically, just as judges, sometimes drive drunk. so when a drunk driver is on trial, everyone, except the victim's family thinks 'there but for the grace of god.'

 

[DesertPirate]

it's interesting, rr, that neither the right nor the left has picked up the issue of penalties for drunk driving.

as far as i can see and speculate, this is because wealthy businessmen, just as labor leaders, and specifically, just as judges, sometimes drive drunk. so when a drunk driver is on trial, everyone, except the victim's family thinks 'there but for the grace of god.'

Could it be that most of our Congresscritters are drunks?

 

[R. Richard]

it's interesting, rr, that neither the right nor the left has picked up the issue of penalties for drunk driving.

as far as i can see and speculate, this is because wealthy businessmen, just as labor leaders, and specifically, just as judges, sometimes drive drunk. so when a drunk driver is on trial, everyone, except the victim's family thinks 'there but for the grace of god.'

I can understand some empathy for the driver. However, 15 days???

 

[Techomancer]

Upper party members are punished just like the proletariat but because the prols are used to suffering it takes longer punishment periods.

15 days in jail to the upper party members is like a life term to a prol. double-plus good eh brother?

Now If you'll excuse me, I don't want to miss the 2 minute hate.

 

[R. Richard]

Upper party members are punished just like the proletariat but because the prols are used to suffering it takes longer punishment periods.

15 days in jail to the upper party members is like a life term to a prol. double-plus good eh brother?

Now If you'll excuse me, I don't want to miss the 2 minute hate.

Indeed, Techomancer is a double-plus good duck speaker. [Ref: 1984, the novel.]

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

it's interesting, rr, that neither the right nor the left has picked up the issue of penalties for drunk driving.

as far as i can see and speculate, this is because wealthy businessmen, just as labor leaders, and specifically, just as judges, sometimes drive drunk. so when a drunk driver is on trial, everyone, except the victim's family thinks 'there but for the grace of god.'

Not everyone. I have never driven drunk in my life.

This is another case of the Golden Rule in action. We all know what that rule is so I won't repeat it.

 

[Pure]

driving drunk would have to become socially unacceptable, just like hitting your wife in public has become.

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

driving drunk would have to become socially unacceptable, just like hitting your wife in public has become.

I thought it already was unacceptable.

 

[R. Richard]

Not everyone. I have never driven drunk in my life.

This is another case of the Golden Rule in action. We all know what that rule is so I won't repeat it.

"They who have the gold, make the rules."

 

[oggbashan]

It is difficult to decide whether a sentence is appropriate or not without reviewing the whole evidence.

If Florence Cioffi was drunk and walked out between parked cars she could have been hit by a driver who was stone cold sober and didn't have time to react. George Anderson might not have had time to apply his brakes even if he had been sober.

Leaving the scene is bad but is a fairly normal psychological reaction to an accident.

Locally a woman was killed by a foreign heavy truck driver. He was vilified in our local media who complained about inadequately regulated foreign truck companies.

When the case came to court several witnesses testified that the woman stepped off the pavement without warning when the truck was six feet away travelling at less than 30mph. The driver couldn't have done anything to avoid the impact. He was sober, had been driving only for ten minutes at the start of his journey, his truck was perfectly maintained - he was totally innocent. Unfortunately for him he couldn't face driving a truck again. He blamed himself, even if the court and the woman's family didn't.

What is really bad about drunk driving is that if there is an accident there is always the probability that the intoxication was a contributory cause. Reaction times are slower even with a moderate amount of alcohol.

Og

 

[R. Richard]

It is difficult to decide whether a sentence is appropriate or not without reviewing the whole evidence.

If Florence Cioffi was drunk and walked out between parked cars she could have been hit by a driver who was stone cold sober and didn't have time to react. George Anderson might not have had time to apply his brakes even if he had been sober.
Og

Og, I can agree with your assessment of the situation. It may well have been that Florence Cioffi was drunk and walked out between parked cars. However, let me ask a question. How often is it that a dead person is tested for intoxication? Why was Florence Cioffi's body tested to try to determine if she was drunk? Finally, how fair was the test?

It's not beyond the realm of possiblity that the 'drunk test' was performed by a person(s) who had already been told the results of the test, 'or else.' I wasn't there and I dont know. However, I do know how the system works.