Man Pleads Guilty in Fatal Milwaukee Drunk Driving Crash

On behalf of Milwaukee personal injury attorney Ric Domnitz of Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. posted in Drunk Driving Accidents on Thursday, July 17, 2014.

A Milwaukee man whose longtime girlfriend had a restraining order against him since 2012 somehow ended up in a bar with her last December and later left her behind in a car after he crashed it into another vehicle later the same night.

According to a Dec. 16, 2013 article in the “Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel” about a week after the crash, the 33-year-old woman was killed. It was also reported that, according to law enforcement, the man had never been issued a Wisconsin driver’s license.

The judge in the case said that he viewed the accident as yet another example of the domestic violence that had plagued the couple’s relationship. He called the defendant a “menace to society.” Four people in the vehicle he hit suffered serious injuries, and another passenger in his own vehicle suffered a broken leg.

The defendant pleaded guilty to a number of charges, including hit-and-run involving death, hit-and-run involving great bodily injury and homicide by negligent operation of a motor vehicle. He has now been sentenced to consecutive jail terms totaling 18 years for the accident. He was also sentenced for charges involving battery and child abuse of the woman and her 14-year-old daughter. The Milwaukee man pleads guilty to those charges as well, which were related to an incident two months before the fatal accident. He could spend 25 years behind bars.

In response to the Milwaukee judge’s chastisement that he had left the woman “to die in the street” as he ran from the accident scene, the defendant said that he was under the influence of ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol, and didn’t realize she was injured. He claimed that his impairment is also why he didn’t realize that police were chasing him.

When someone is injured or killed in a fatal Milwaukee drunk driving crash, family members may feel that whatever sentence the at-fault driver receives in prison is not sufficient. Further, while criminal penalties are important, they do nothing to help surviving victims and family members with the financial burdens they’re likely to bear. Luckily, drunk drivers can also face civil lawsuits from those seeking to ease those burdens.

Source: Source: Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel, “Milwaukee man sentenced to 25 years for fatal hit-and-run crash,” Bruce Vielmetti, July 7, 2014Sec. Source: http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/more-charges-for-milwaukee-man-accused-in-fatal-hit-run-case-b99164992z1-236083081.html

Do you need legal advice from a Milwaukee personal injury attorney following a drunk driving accident? Contact Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. today for a free consultation.