Stoned driver gets 3 years in death of Girdwood woman
Originally published Saturday, August 23, 2008 at 11:35 a.m.
Updated Saturday, August 23, 2008 at 2:59 p.m.
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Stumble It!ANCHORAGE -- A driver who was under the influence of marijuana was sentenced to three years in prison for criminally negligent homicide in the death of a 53-year-old woman killed on the Seward Highway.
Timothy Wood, 33, was behind the wheel when his Chevy Blazer crossed the center line and slammed into a car driven by Diane Bahnson of Girdwood in 2005.
Wood's blood tested positive for marijuana.
Troopers said Wood was driving erratically before the accident.
Wood was originally charged with second-degree murder, but technical problems with the blood test evidence made it hard to take the case to trial, according to prosecutors. In a plea agreement, the charge was reduced to criminally negligent homicide.
Bahnson's parents and husband came to Wood's sentencing hearing. They urged Superior Court Judge Philip Volland to give the stiffest sentence possible under the agreement.
"I believe Mr. Wood has gotten away with murder," Bahnson's husband, Reid, told the judge. "He destroyed not only one life, but many."
Wood apologized to the family. He said not a day goes by that he does not think about what he has done.
Volland told the family that the sentence was in line with recent sentences for similar crimes.
Wood has already served the time awaiting his sentencing hearing. He also will lose his license for five years.
Community Discussion
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Something is wrong here. An innocent lady is just driving down the road minding her own business. Timothy Wood is stoned and crosses the center line and kills her and gets three years in jail? Where is the justice in this. Now all he has to do is wait five years and he can drive legally again? Our roads are filled with people driving with suspended and revoked drivers liscences. This is a terrable injustice. I can't imagine what this ladys family and friends have been going through.
Go to the Anchorage paper and get a little bit--not much--but more of the story.
Also, THC stays in one's system for quite a while. There is no way to tell if the guy was actually high at the time.
He was said to be "driving erratically" beforehand, but who knows? He could have been on a cell texting or something.
The point isn't whether or not he was stoned or text messaging. The point is he killed a fine lady and that the courts have decided that her life is only worth 3 years.
I agree that they cannot possibly know that marijuana caused this, unless he admitted that he was impaired. But it seems unlikely in any case.
My condolences to the family who not only lost a loved family member but then see the justice system fail them. I hope they find their solace in the Lord and not in fallible people.
Has everyone missed the part of the article where it says that technical problems with the blood evidence made it hard to take the case to trial? Isn't 3 years better then none if they had gone to trial and had the evidence thrown out? Is it fair? No, not really. Would it be better if the judge ad given him a stricter sentence? Yes, however, if the sentence is in line with those issued in similar cases and the judge issued the maximum it could be the basis for an appeal. (I say could because I'm not 100% sure and I don't feel like looking through the Alaska Statutes Folio.)
The UPS drug dealer got more time in prison then a murderer. That is how messed up our justice system has become.
Now, had the individual been drunk, he probably would have gotten away with just probation. I firmly believe that murder is murder, regardless of the cause behind it. Sentencing him to time served for taking another human life is just a slap on the wrist.
oh yeah firedog- drunk driving is wayyy better
what if the guy is just a bad driver and smoked pot a week before the ACCIDENT?
People don't need to be stoned to be a bad driver.
The prohibitionists once again strike with one of their infamous "Time Served" sentences. This means that the defendant has spent so long in jail, that the sentence is already served before he even comes to trial! huh.gif It's a great way for prohibitionists to avoid having to prove their false scientific claims-in this case, that cannabis consumption makes you too inebriated to drive. Its done frequently in these DUI cases by threatening the accused with a massive sentence, and then agreeing to "reduce the sentence" if the case does not come to trial. Second degree murder seems hardly likely to have been agreed to by a jury: either a felony must be shown to have been committed during the incident which caused the death, or especially, that the accused had the INTENT to kill the victim. dry.gif This guy got scared by the prosecutors, and his public pretender did just that--pretended to represent the accused, while not counselling him that a second degree murder charge would be impossible to get past a jury. I advise anyone who is under SERIOUS charges like this to demand law books in jail and learn the law yourself before trusting a public pretender. This accused had two years to do so, and there are always enough prisoners familiar with law books and how to use them in jail for an accused to be able to make his own, informed decision before being sold down the river by the "court-appointed lawyer". These court appointed lawyers are absolutely beholden to the judges for work, and the judges' ( i.e. prohibitionists') principal demand is that these cases be closed rapidly, and for the prosecution's benefit. Having a Public Defender IS having no lawyer at all.
I"m no expert, however, I believe when being screened for THC there are detectable levels, which would be lower, and then there are higher levels, supposedly indicating impairment. I suppose the judicial system uses this information to argue higher levels indicate recent consumption. Could this be where the problem came in with the blood work?
Without knowing facts it is impossible to determine what caused this accident. One fact known is that a woman tragically lost her life, however, I doubt being impaired by smoking marijuana only was the cause of this driver to cross the center line.
The rule is:
Don't drink and drive drunk;
but tote instead, to
avoid a drunk driving conviction.
You will only spend short
time in jail, with a minimum
sentence or put on probation,
if you run over a person or
KILL THEM!
It doesn't matter what the level of THC was in his system at the time he killed my sister. The fact is, he was driving with an illegal substance in his system. He chose to get behind the wheel of his truck & drive. There are many eye witness accounts of his erratic driving. He took my sisters life end of story. She wasn't afforded the opportunity to continue her life because he robbed her of that. I don't think he intentionally tried to kill Diane but the fact is it was HIS choice to drive. He knew he had THC in his system, he readily admitted he smoked earlier in the day. Your laws need to be changed so that this doesn't happen again. I've been on the road this happened on. I don't feel this is a true factor in the accident. It's more dangerous in the winter time than in the summer with full daylight. He was speeding, crossing over the middle line & killed her. Like guns don't kill people, it's the person holding the gun & pulling the trigger that does the killing. This is the same for that road. He chose to drive under the influence knowing his skills would be impaired. The truck & road didn't make him drive erratically, his impairment did. He also didn't spend 3 years in jail. He wasn't arrested until Oct. 2005, 4 months after taking Diane's life. He was then let out of jail in Nov. 2007, so he only spent 2 years & 1 month. He's not the victim, Diane is. For the record, his license has been suspended for 5 years but in 2 he can petition to get it back. I truly feel he's going to be a repeat offender. Think about this in another 2 years when more than likely he'll back on the road behind a wheel.
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