Of the 1,149 traffic deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years in 2013, 200 (17%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver
Amherst police arrested four impaired drivers over the long holiday weekend, three of them due to alcohol and the remaining one for driving under the influence of drugs.
And not a single one was a UMass student!
Yes Amherst being a college town, the long weekends usually stimulates a mass exodus of our college aged youth.
Interestingly two of the DUI arrests were coming from downtown bars when they were intercepted by police, one from Stackers Pub and the other from The Spoke.
Kind of makes you wonder if the bars get a tad more desperate for business when the students are gone and serve those who should be shut off.
In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Tuesday two of the four took a standard plea deal the Commonwealth offers to first time offenders. A 24D disposition will cost them $650 in fines/fees, loss of license for 45 days and one year with DUI charge "continued without a finding," aka probation.
But it does save them a couple thousand in legal fees and with a legally admissible Breathalyzer test as evidence against them, the chances of beating the charge is nothing if not slim.
Alex Forrest, age 26, stands before Judge Payne after making a 24D disposition plea
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Cayla Sicard, age 30, had public defender assigned and her case continued to next month
Cayla Sicard was arrested late Sunday afternoon after hitting another vehicle on busy Rt 9 in East Amherst. She also had her two year old son in the vehicle with her at the time.
Her legally admissible breath test came in at .18 more than twice the legal limit.
And as you can see from the video she failed miserably the 9 step walk and turn test.
Ms. Sicard was released on her own recognizance to appear next month for pre-trial, but she will be subject to random alcohol screenings via the probation department until then.
Allan Tremblay, age 24, also had a pubic defender assigned to him and he will return next month for a pre trial on the charge of OUI drugs
why isn't releasing the video a cori violation?
ReplyDeleteBecause I took the video (Johnny on the spot reporter that I am).
ReplyDeleteSicard has a lifetime of instabilty. No role models, no support, and no education. I don't think the court system is up to the challenge of providing her with the services she truly needs. They can punish for the dui and won't touch the surface of her real problems.
ReplyDeleteLarry, you can't use that "Alcohol involved" statistic for DUI because they define "Alcohol Involved" as above 0.00 -- they include 0.01 and everything I have seen/heard -- even from prohibitionists such as yourself -- is that anything below 0.02 has no real effect on the human body.
ReplyDeleteAnd they also don't make a determination as to "fault" -- you have a few tons of tree fall out of the sky and land on your car, there is nothing you can do as you can't even see it coming. Drunk, sober or otherwise, wind snapping off the top of tree is the cause of the accident. Facts matter.
"Sicard has a lifetime of instabilty. No role models, no support, and no education."
ReplyDeleteYet because she has a vagina, she has a 2-year-old child, and because she has the child she gets fed, clothed, housed and the rest in HOPES that she doesn't get into OUI-caused wrecks with said 2-year-old in the car.
Where, oh where is DCF???
My "live & let live", "it's a free country" attitude goes out the window when you (a) have custody of a small child and (b) are getting a s-load of money from us because of that.
Let the first person who has not sinned, cast the first stone.
ReplyDeleteThat was followed by "Go and sin no more."
DeleteTell that to the jury hearing the case of a drunk driver who slaughtered an innocent family on their way to visit grandma for Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteConsider the stone thrown. I have never in my entire adult life driven under the influence. Ever. Ridiculous comment for this situation. Tighten up drunk driving laws! To see people with multiple DUI's continue to re-offend, it disgusts me. Get them off the road period. A few months is not enough! And to be responsible for a child? Wow, get that license away before they hurt other people or their own young child! Insane.
ReplyDeleteAnon 1:54pm lies, like we all do to say we're better than everyone else. Deny,deny
ReplyDeletethen say say how much better I am then everyone else.