Orphans and Hit & Run

She was 23 years old - a young mother who was merely crossing Main Street in Buffalo with her son. Within seconds she was killed. Amanda Knowlton and her son Isiah were innocent victims of a drunk driver, just like my sister. They were struck by a 21 year old - Christopher Tulumello of Amherst. Here's a link to the Buffalo News article. Police and witnesses say he didn't have the guts to stick around - he fled the scene, and was arrested hours later. He sped through a red light, struck Knowlton and her son, and kept going.

The anger I'm feeling right now is hard to put into words. Isiah Knowlton and his baby brother Sammy are orphans. Amanda's life was snuffed out way too early - just like Karen's. A drunk driver who made a bad choice and now a young woman is dead.

It's hard to feel remorse for Christopher and his family, even after reading what his mother says about him. If he was an adult with a conscience, he would not have fled the scene. He's facing several charges including DWI, vehicular manslaughter, vehicular assault, and leaving the scene of an accident. I understand the judge set bail at $500,000. Is that the price of a young woman's life?

My thoughts and prayers go out to Amanda's family and friends...and those two young boys.

As for Christopher - I hope you learn your lesson and that justice will be served.


Deanna

P.S. I continue my road to recovery after lung surgery. The key is to rest and not to overdo it. That's my prescription.

Update from Deanna

I was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and am at home recovering from surgery. I'll be back to work on CAID's mission as soon as I am physically able.

To stay up to date with my progress, be sure to check out the YourHub blog.

Thanks,

Deanna

Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Hit & Run Accident: My Take

Guilty. He's admitted to hitting a Hilbert College student and fleeing the scene, and just a couple days ago John Duffy stood before a judge in State Supreme Court. Duffy pleaded guilty to a felony charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident in connection with the death of Meghan Sobrera.

Sobrera was killed just a few weeks ago on South Park Avenue in Hamburg. She was on her way back from working at the Hamburg Fairgrounds, and was walking to Hilbert with friends when she was fatally struck by Duffy's SUV.

Police believe Duffy was drinking at the time of the crash, but they can't prove it because Duffy fled the scene and didn't turn himself in until 5 days later.

Duffy should be ashamed of himself. By fleeing the scene, he failed to take responsibility for his actions. The sentence that he now faces is 2 1/2 to 7 years for fleeing the scene of the crash. He's going to be disbarred.

He's an attorney who is using the law to his benefit. Even though Duffy's attorney continues to defend his client saying he thought he hit a garbage can, I say Duffy's not stupid, he knew that if he struck someone and fled the scene he'd face a lesser charge than if he stopped and took responsiblity for his actions.

Duffy's sending a message to others, "Hey, if you're drinking and driving and get into a crash, you can run, and you will get away on a lesser charge".

Shame on him and shame on anyone who is involved in a drinking and driving crash who doesn't take responsibility for his or her actions.


Deanna

CAID Prepares To Take Message to Area Colleges

Next week, Crusade Against Impaired Driving, Inc. will be taking our message to area college campuses.

It's National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, and CAID (Deanna) has been invited to speak to students at Hilbert, Buffalo State, and Trocaire College. We will share Karen's story with students and drive home the message that drinking and driving is preventable and is a choice.

If you want to read more about what's going on in Deanna's life right now, click here.

Deanna

1...2...3...6 Strikes. How many is it going to take?

Not 1 or 2...but 6...that's how many "second chances" an Amherst woman has received. Now she's headed to prison for the next 1-3 years. The judge in the case called her "a DWI fatality waiting to happen" Here's a link to The Buffalo News article. After reading it, I agree with the judge.

Before I go on with this blog, why did I say six "second chances"? Because every time someone drives drunk, they are taking lives in their hands. I look at the DWI arrest as a "second chance" because no one was hurt or killed. Sure it costs money - fines, court fees, insurance goes up, etc. but no one was seriously hurt or maimed in the crash.

Deborah Mitchum, a 44 year old restaurant manager, received the sentence earlier this week after she was charged with her sixth DWI in nine years. She was also fined more than $1,800. It boggles my mind how someone can be so irresponsible. She really is a threat to everyone on the roads, because she hasn't learned her lesson...and keeps doing it over and over again.

Mitchum's attorney wanted her to go to counseling and spend weekends in jail. I'm glad the judge didn't give her that "slap on the wrist". In court, she claimed "she's too old for this now", yes Deborah, you are.

And you've been given a second chance that you can think about in jail.

Former Prosecutor & DWI

It's a case that CAID is watching very closely. Anne Adams, a former prosecutor is in the midst of a legal battle of her own...charged with aggravated DWI. She appears to be getting special treatment by our local courts.

Let's go back to all this started...
At the beginning of September, Adams, 46, was arrested by Hamburg police after she was stopped and on Route 5 in Hamburg. When police stopped her red Ford Thunderbird convertible (it was weaving from lane to lane and nearly struck a guardrail), she failed all four roadside sobriety tests and her BAC registered at 0.19 percent. She pleaded not guilty during her arraignment.

Two weeks ago, during her last court appearance, Adams' defense attorney and former Leonard Krawczyk said that Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark broke a “gentlemen’s agreement” in the case by leaking witnesses’ affidavits contained in a defense motion to get the case quickly dismissed. Meanwhile, Clark said he didn't break the agreement, saying he made the affidavits public at the arraignment. "They thought they would get this done under the radar, get it disposed of quickly and walk away. That’s not the way it’s done.”

This has definitely not been your typical DWI court case. A State Supreme Court justice, a police lieutenant and a doctor all filed legal papers saying Adams wasn’t drunk that night, and on the opposite side of the courtroom, three district attorneys were in the Hamburg courtroom, and Adams’ case was handled by two prosecutors who do not normally handle misdemeanor charges there.

Adams claims she had two glasses of wine and a water with lime at Shanghai Red's restaurant that night.

Here's a link to The Buffalo News report on Adams' most recent court appearance.

What are my thoughts on this case? I feel that if Adams did indeed drive drunk that night, she should be penalized like anyone else who's convicted of DWI. She doesn't deserve special treatment, and her case should not be treated any differently.

We'll be following this case, and what happens in the courtroom and we'll keep you updated.

Deanna

CAID Fall Update: Reaching out to Teens

Here's an update on what CAID has been up to in recent weeks...we're reaching out to teens in unique ways.

I've been working on an interesting project that will share Karen's story with more students in our area. Denis Foley is curator of "Friends Exhibit/Last Call" at the Lewis Henry Morgan Institute at the SUNY Institute of Technology in Albany. "Friends" is a traveling exhibition. Its funding is provided through the Governor's Traffic Safety Council, New York State Stop DWI Coordinators' Foundation, The Sheldon & Ruth Goldstein Foundation and the New York State Press Association Foundation.

So what is it? Here's a description taken from the Friends website:
The exhibition focuses on the lives of the victims prior to the crash, emphasizing individual histories through photos, possessions, interviews of victims’ friends and families, and audio and visual recordings. A timeline traces the events of the victims’ last day, including a detailed account of the crash itself. Along with the text of the timeline, quotes and artifacts that pertain to the crash are part of this section. The aftermath that the families, friends, police and community were left with is included as well. The combination of these elements creates an emotional reaction in observers, with the goal of behavioral change. This approach creates a powerful message that may deter students from driving after consuming alcohol.

The exhibit featuring Karen's story will travel to high schools across the county and it's going to be very impacting. I spoke with Denis about in depth about what type of person Karen was and what exactly happened on Friday night, March 6. It will include the things that meant the most to her and really defined what type of person she was. It'll also have letters, newspaper clippings, and the timeline of the crash. As always, we don't expect all teens to be impacted by this exhibit, but if one girl or guy takes a look at the exhibit and makes the choice not to drink and drive, then it'll be worth it.

STOP DWI and CAID are also working on producing a video PSA that will be distributed to all schools to use as part of their morning announcements. This will give students a weekly report of arrests, crashes, and incidents tied to drinking and driving in Erie County and how lives are impacted. We're also working on a video contest with Fox 29 where teens will be able to produce their own anti-DWI video PSA. We'll keep you posted on these projects as they develop.

The mission of CAID is to educate and we're moving full steam ahead in that mission and hopefully we'll save lives in the process.


Deanna