Re:Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work?
by CWuestefeld on Monday April 26, 2010 @05:41PM
(#1296235)
What makes you think they don't?
I have a good friend who was smart enough not to get into the drunk guy's car (leaving a fraternity party) and followed on his own. Thus, he was the first person on the scene after the accident. He wound up being a witness against the driver in a homicide trial.
So at least in the State of New York, you can be tried for manslaughter when your drunk driving results in someone's death.
That being said, I believe if you knowing impair your ability to make judgements and then kill or injure someone, you made a conscious decision.
Now, if you frame this in some "mandatory minimum" debate, I am definitely not going there. I still believe judges need their leeway, but prosecutors need to charge the crime as something more than a simple "he was drinking and an accident happened".