The father of a 19 year-old boy, injured in an alleged DUI accident, is upset by a jury that found the woman he thought responsible not guilty of DUI, but instead, found his son guilty of rushing in front of her moving vehicle and solely responsible for his own injuries.
The Boston Herald and the Waltham Patch reported that the jury also felt that the mixed results of her DUI testing were due more to the fact that she was 50 pounds overweight and nervous at the time of her arrest.
M.C., in grieving for his son, J.C., refused to speak to the defendant, B.L.H.
Two years ago, while his son was in an ICU unit at the Lahey Clinic, M.C. told a Boston Herald reporter, "What (J.C.) needs right now is positive energy. I can't afford any negative energy."
In the early morning of November 29, 2009, J.C., crossing - against the light - in a hurry to get to his waiter's job in an assisted living center, was stuck by B.L.H. at the corner of Trapelo Road and Smith Street.
Following the accident, which sent J.C. to fly approximately 85 feet before landing on the pavement, his brain swelled to double its normal size. Later he had to have brain surgery and then went through months of recovery.
Immediately after the accident, B.L.H., of Billerica, stopped her car and called 911 for help. Once arriving on scene, an officer reported that B.L.H.'s smelled of alcohol, she failed a field sobriety test and refused to take a Breathalyzer test.
In court B.L.H. contended that she did not see the teenager when he ran in front of her car. She also discounted admitting to an officer that she had consumed four glasses of wine earlier that morning.
B.L.H.'s lawyer argued that his client was 50 pounds overweight and nervous at the time of the accident. He claims that both factors had a lot to do with the police report.
Before the jury took the case B.L.H. pleaded guilty to driving an uninsured and unregistered vehicle that also lacked a current inspection sticker - and she was fined $1500.
That would prove to become her final sentence. On November 4, after a three-day trial, the jury found her not guilty of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, DUI while causing bodily injury and crosswalk violation.
The jury found that it was J.C. alone that was responsible for the crash.
In court B.L.H. listened while M.C. gave his impact statement: "Our lives are changed, and we still do not know the extent of John's injuries. Will (J.C) have another bleed on his brain, another blood clot somewhere in his damaged body? Will he ever have his balance again? ... Will he recover from the memory loss, short-term and long-term? This is the life sentence we were given."
Charges of DUI, DWI, OUI and OWI can have serious ramifications. You may also experience feelings of guilt though you are not guilty of a crime. You must contact a DUI attorney that is expert in maneuvering these types of cases.