Driver, after a terrible wrong, plans to work to make amends

from Aimee Green's article in the Oregonian:

When it came down to it, even the defense attorney couldn't mince words. His client was guilty of a truly horrific drunken-driving crash: striking a blind man on the sidewalk, breaking his pelvis and legs in eight places, then driving away.

But what made this case different from countless others, Jim O'Rourke said moments before a judge sentenced his client to prison Thursday, was that the Northeast Portland man did everything right after he did something that was so wrong. The judge and the prosecutor agreed.

Sep 17, 2009 Case:DWI

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Life sentence in fatal impaired accident 'small victory' for Quebec family

by Lisa Rea

Canadian Roger Walsh was convicted and given a life sentence for the killing of Anee Khudaverian while driving drunk in October 2008 in Quebec. Walsh's sentence is noteworthy since this is the stiffest sentence ever handed down by the Crown in the case of a drunk driving death. Walsh had 18 additional convictions on his record for "impaired driving" before the death of this victim. In this news story, along with a television news clip interviewing the victim's mother and sister, we learn that Ms. Khudaverian was wheelchair bound and walking her down on a rural road when she was killed by Walsh.

Sep 11, 2009 Case:DWI, Correspondent:Lisa Rea

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Sawyer family moves forward after devastating loss

from wsbt.com (tip of the hat to Vancouver Association for Restorative Justice):

When he left home the morning of July 16, 2008, Patrick was just weeks away from completing his degree. It was early, before sunrise, and he was riding his bicycle west on Cleveland Road, headed to the YMCA to swim laps before class at Indiana University South Bend. He was wearing a helmet and reflective vest and riding with traffic, and he had lights on the front and back of his bicycle.

Sep 11, 2009 Media, Story, Country:USA, Case:DWI

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