A teacher, responsible for the deaths of three people in a DUI-fueled crash in 2005, is scheduled to enter jail and begin serving a 12-yearlong prison sentence, after a reversal and an alleged mix up, as reported by the Stamford Advocate.
The now-former teacher, T.C., 38, was denied a motion to reconsider her conviction by the Supreme Court that had been overturned in 2009 by the state Appellate Court.
Joe Valdes, the Senior Assistant State's Attorney, was part of the 2007 prosecution team. He said that T.C. is being allowed to turn herself in after Christmas as to not disturb the holiday for her three children. He said, "We gave her Christmas for her children's sake."
T.C. was arrested in July of 2005 for driving her BMW head-on into a convertible killing J.I., 72, B.I., 58, and G.S., 23. She had been headed north on Long Ridge Road before she veered over the double-yellow lines and crashing into the other vehicle.
Valdes said, "She took about 100 years of life expectancy from these people. Obviously, it's not an intentional crime, but it's an extremely serious crime."
T.C. admitted to drinking alcohol prior to the accident and her blood-alcohol content, tested at Stamford Hospital, proved to be .241 percent – more than three times over the state's legal limit for driving.
She was arrested by Stamford police two months later. Two years after that a jury found T.C. guilty of DUI and three counts of vehicular manslaughter. She was sentenced to serve 12 years of a suspended 20-year sentence by a judge, she served five days and then posted bond.
Another two years went by when an Appellate Court overturned her conviction. Her case was sent back to Stamford for a new trial. It was T.C.'s attorney, Robert Bello, who had successfully argued that prosecutors should not have been allowed to allege that his client acted from a guilty conscience.
The guilty conscience argument was in reference to T.C. transferring her home to her mother due to her pending divorce. Just before the transfer, T.C. received her blood alcohol test results from Stamford.
Along with that contention, Bello also argued that Stamford Hospital – known for it's busy emergency room – mixed up his client's sample with samples taken from other emergency room patients.
Bello argued his points in the Supreme Court in March. But, by this November, the Supreme Court overturned the appeal's court ruling and reinstated the 2007 conviction.
A.G., the Stamford police sergeant in charge of the 2005 accident reconstruction, was confident that the blood sample taken belonged to T.C. Officers also found a marijuana cigarette and a loose prescription painkiller in her handbag after the crash.
Prior to the crash T.C. had been drinking with co-workers at a party.
A.G. said of the recent conviction, "I can honestly say this is the longest case in my career, from beginning to end."
The son of J.I. and B.I., T.I., 36, said, "It was a very long time, but there was no control over it. The process is the process. Between the appeals and the delays, and whatever the attorneys did to buy time, it's the way it works."
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