Marine Wife Charged with Injuring Another Marine in DUI

A woman thought to be distraught over her Marine husband's impending deployment, was involved in a DUI fueled hit-and-run of another marine, that has left the victim on life support, as reported by the North County Times from Rancho Bernardo.

J.M.B., 21, pleaded not guilty on August 3 to three counts of felony charges: two for DUI causing injury and one for hit-and-run that caused the victim to be comatose.  She is being held on $100,000 bail.

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Williams stated that J.M.B. is facing a nine-year sentence maximum.

In Rancho Bernardo on July 31, while allegedly drunk, J.M.B. slammed her vehicle into a motorcycle driven by Gunnery Sgt. D.S., 34, resulting in his hospitalization and need for life support.

D.S., 34, a 17-year veteran, is a decorated Marine - he has been awarded the Bronze Star for valor.  He served four tours of duty overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.   He also is noted for surviving another crash - he suffered injuries when he was struck with a roadside bomb in Iraq.

While D.S. was sitting on his Harley Davidson and stopped at a red light, J.M.B., driving eastbound on Bernardo Center Drive close to West Bernardo Drive, drove into him from behind in her Chevrolet TrailBlazer.

Vanessa Potts, D.S.'s fiancé, said, "It's unfair, we've been through a lot these past couple years and he's been through a lot in his military career, surviving an IED explosion. How do you come home and get hurt doing something that you love? I mean, he genuinely loves riding. That day, the last message I got from him was how beautiful the day was, and how he wished he could ride all day."

Williams claimed that the force of the impact propelled the victim first onto the hood of a mid-size SUV and then into the street.  He said that J.M.B. reportedly said, "Is he dead?" to witnesses, then retrieved her car's front bumper, and though visibly upset and frantic, drove away from the scene.  

Witnesses followed her.  Once she parked at her apartment, a little distance away, the witnesses alerted the police.  

J.M.B.'s blood alcohol level proved to be 0.37 percent after her arrest - which Williams said was four times the legal driving limit.

Peter Liss, J.M.B.'s attorney, said that his client left the scene only to alert her husband, also a Marine, as to what had occurred. 

Liss told Judge David Szumowski that his client had "extreme remorse." Outside of the court Liss continued, "She made some pretty bad judgments the other day, and she understands that.  She feels terrible about the victim in this case and literally spends all of her time just hoping that he gets better."

Liss also claimed that his client, married to a Marine for eight months, may have been feeling sad and fearful at the thought of her new husband's deployment coming up. 

C.J., D.S.'s mother said of the blood alcohol test, "It just kind of blew my mind.  I don't even know how she could even stay conscious at that level."

D.S. remains under sedation and can communicate only through infrequent eye movement.  Paralysis is considered to be a definite possibility.