PANEL APPROVES JAIL TIME FOR THOSE WHO DRINK, LEAVE ACCIDENT SCENE

PHOENIX -- Invoking the name of a dead college freshman, a Senate panel
Wednesday voted to require mandatory prison terms for those who drink and
leave the scene of an accident that injures or kills someone.

SB 1135 specifies that if someone had any amount of alcohol or drugs in
their system when they were involved in the crash and left the scene, then a
judge would have to order them incarcerated and they would not be eligible
for probation or early release. Sen. Slade Mead, R-Ahwatukee, said he
introduced the bill in response to the 2001 death of Arizona State
University student Jessica Woodin, struck and killed by a car while she was
crossing the street in Tempe.

But Jerry Landau, a special assistant Maricopa County attorney, acknowledged
that this law would have made no difference in the outcome of that case: The
driver, Mark Torre, was sentenced to nine years in prison after being
convicted.

Despite that, Landau said the proposal, which now goes to the Senate
Appropriations Committee, will provide an additional deterrent to motorists
who have been drinking from leaving the scene of an accident.

The problem, said Mead, is that a drunken driver who flees takes the
evidence of impairment with him or her. By the time the motorist is captured
or surrenders it may be impossible to prove that the person met the legal
definition of driving drunk.

Under this proposal, prosecutors could use other evidence to convince a jury
that the person had been drinking, such as a bar tab or testimony from
others who were with the driver before the accident.

Sen. Bill Brotherton, D-Phoenix, said the flaw in that argument is that
there is no requirement to prove the person actually was impaired. He said
that means someone could face the mandatory prison time based solely on
evidence the person had a single drink which would not have affected the
person's judgment or ability to drive.

By contrast, he noted, a drunk driving conviction generally requires proof
of a blood alcohol content of 0.08.

Mead acknowledged the legislation proposes a "zero tolerance" for alcohol or
illegal drugs. But he pointed out that none of this comes into play if the
driver does not flee: They would not be subject to the law -- or even face
drunken driving charges -- if it turned out they had only a single drink.

"We want people to stay with the accident," he said.

Landau agreed. He said it is critical that motorists not only remain at the
scene but also call for help as any delay could turn what otherwise would be
a minor injury into a major one or even a fatality.

Torre was convicted of negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an
accident after striking the 18-year-old Woodin with his Mustang and then
fleeing the scene. Evidence presented to the jury showed he ditched his
blood-soaked car and walked four hours on side streets to a friend's house
rather than calling police.

He did not turn himself in for two days, a decision prosecutors said he made
to let the alcohol from the drinks he had leave his system.

The judge concluded said while Torre showed "gross indifference" to the
girl's welfare that she contributed to her own death, crossing the street
illegally while she was impaired by alcohol.