Ugh.......another one in Colorado

[PeteSC]

Woman gets probation for role in accident


 
 
NICOLE FORMOSA
May 17, 2005

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LAKE COUNTY - A Lake County jury found a Copper Mountain resident guilty in the August 2004 death of an Arkansas woman late last week.

Eileen Brown, 54, was found guilty of one count of careless driving causing death and one count of careless driving causing serious bodily injury. The jury determined Brown was not guilty of making an unsafe U-turn.

Brown was sentenced to two years unsupervised probation, 200 hours of community service and was instructed to draft an apology letter to be submitted to newspapers in Lake County and Arkansas.

The case revolved around a traffic accident on Highway 91 near Leadville in which Brown's vehicle hit a motorcycle driven by 58-year-old Arkansas resident John Sides.

His passenger, 47-year-old Cynthia Rouse, died at the scene. Sides was left paralyzed.

During a two-day trial, deputy district attorney David Hoerber presented evidence that Brown turned into Canterbury Lane, then entered Highway 91 in front of Sides' 2001 Honda Goldwing motorcycle.

The six-person jury deliberated for about two-and-a-half hours before reaching their verdict on Friday afternoon.

Her $1,000 traffic fine was dropped at the request of the prosecution due to the restitution and court costs Brown will have to pay in the future. Hoerber has 90 days to file a restitution claim.

Brown's sentence was appropriate, Hoerber said.

"At the sentencing hearing, one of the things that happened is the victims were able to speak ... they were not interested in a jail sentence or a heavy fine," Hoerber said.

Brown had no prior criminal history and Hoerber did not ask the judge to give her the maximum sentence of one year in jail for each charge.

"At the sentencing hearing, one of the things that happened is the victims were able to speak ... they were not interested in a jail sentence or a heavy fine," Hoerber said.

  I doubt both victims were able to speak in court!