Thread: How much time should he serve??

TIME and LOTS of it! As pedestrians my sister and her friend were both hit by a drunk driver many years ago. The other woman had at least closed head injuries and my sister had her pelvis, both legs broken, damage to her mouth, closed head injuries and other stuff. She is STILL in pain 24/7. I don't know if the guy ever went to jail, but they sued the last bar that served him and won quite a bit but considering what they went through, they would have rather have lived this past 17 years pain free and no problems.

I'm thinking that unless this kid had a mighty AHA! moment, he definitely needs to see the inside of a jail for a lengthy amount of time, PLUS a lot of other stuff!!! Regardless of his age and no record, he needs to pay for his selfish and immature acts. These women weren't as 'lucky' and my sister and her friend.

Originally Posted by 3lilpigs

Thanks....One woman was my aunt.......the other, her friend. Neither one of them had time to get out of his way..they didn't even see him coming. It happened in a very popular area, and there were security cameras around that caught the whole thing on tape.




The police didn't ''find'' them.....
28 days later, 2 of the girls went to the police station to file a report admitting that they were in the van with him.

Almost a month later!! Despicable!!

I hold all of them just as responsible as the driver. They all admitted knowing he was drunk, and none of them tried to take the keys from him. They went from one party to another in his van, with him driving drunk. And like I said in the first post, the driver told them to leave after the accident, before the police got there. And they did. NONE OF THEM (5 total), even bothered to go to my aunt or the other women to even see if they were ok. I wish they had because that's the image I'd like them to remember the rest of their lives!

I am so so sorry for your loss. It's always hard to lose someone you care about, regardless of the circumstance, but like this...it's just wrong. The kids that were with them should be punished somehow!

My parents were hit by a drunk driver about 55 years ago. My brother who would have been the oldest was killed and my Mom who was almost full term with my sister had both legs broken and had to give birth to a dead baby a couple of days later in the hospital. She was in the hospital for months, did not get to go to her kid's funeral. The people that hit them got away completly scott free. He was one of the town drunks, somebody that they seen all over town, we grew up with their kids. Not sure how my Mother went on, she had to have knee replacement surgery because of her injury about 20 years ago. Not sure if she ever forgave them in her heart or not.
I dont care how old he is... he needs to see the inside of a jail! I think all of the others should get something out of it too.

I am very sorry for your loss, death is such a difficult thing to go through to begin with but when it isn't somebody's time and it is senseless like this it makes it even harder. I would try to be very involved in the case, you can write a letter to the judge or even speak at the trial. I would make sure he gets punished! Please keep us posted and I will pray that justice is served.

If they give this kid counceiling and a slap on the wrist he'll do it again & again & again. How many times do you hear about a horrible drunk driving accident and the driver has had multiple DUIs.
Lock this kid up for 30yrs for vehicular manslaughter with no chance of parole.
Without toughter DUI sentencing drunk drivers will continue to terrorize us all.

from yesterdays paper (The Courier) Tell me if this is fair.....

Man sentenced to four years for fatal crash




By RYAN DUNN

staff writer

OTTAWA -- An Ottawa man was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison for killing a 21-year-old woman while driving drunk.

James G. Pothast, 46, was convicted in Putnam County Common Pleas Court of aggravated vehicular homicide, a second-degree felony.

Judge Randall Basinger imposed the prison sentence, gave Pothast a lifetime suspension of his driver's license, and fined him $15,000.

Pothast was driving a pickup truck July 13 with a blood alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit. He collided with a Dodge Neon driven by Antonia R. Doster, 21, of Columbus Grove, on Putnam County 14 near Kalida.

Prior to sentencing Wednesday, Doster's mother, Lisa Morrow, told Judge Basinger and the 50 people in attendance that Doster was a beautiful girl who wanted to see the world.

"Before she could, you took her from us," Morrow said to Pothast. She also presented him a Bible and a photo of Doster.

Pothast said the crash has left him assessing his poor judgment and selfish behavior.

"I cannot begin to express how sorry I am for what I've done," he said.

Those events will always run through his mind, Pothast said.

Both Morrow and Pothast cried repeatedly during their statements.

Pothast's attorney, Jerome Phillips, asked Judge Basinger to impose a two-year prison sentence. Pothast has little previous criminal history and supports his family, but made a very poor decision, Phillips said.

"These are probably the toughest cases for the court to handle," Phillips said.

The drunken driving fatality was not an intentional crime, but one of "absolute stupidity," Phillips said.

But Basinger noted that consuming alcohol and driving a vehicle were both intentional acts by Pothast, to which Phillips agreed.

Pothast drank an "extreme amount," then lied several times to police, claiming at first he had not consumed any alcohol, Basinger said.

When tested, Pothast had a blood alcohol content of .232. In Ohio, the legal standard of drunken driving is a blood alcohol content of 0.08.

Pothast also falsely told investigators that Doster swerved into his lane, and he attempted to avoid her vehicle, Basinger said.

"This accident was caused by your actions and your driving," he said.

After sentencing, Morrow said she wishes her daughter were still alive, but she follows the Bible's teachings of forgiveness.

"He did a wrong thing. It's not my responsibility to judge him. He'll be judged," she said.

Pothast and Morrow have had no interaction, she said.

Morrow said she hopes Pothast will think about his four children while in prison and his responsibilities to them.

"I had four. I raised them. I took care of them. Now I got three," she said.