A new law increasing penalties for fatal drunken-driving accidents corrects an “injustice,” according to Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood.
) - A new law increasing penalties for fatal drunken-driving accidents corrects an “injustice,” according to Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood. Previously, it was possible for impaired drivers to receive more prison time for causing a non-fatal accident than for causing a wreck that resulted in someone’s death.
Blackwood said that was the case for the man convicted in the death of Devinee Rooney, who died days shy of graduating from Theodore High School in 2020.in effect at the time, he could not be imprisoned for more than two years on the Class C felony. “Had Devinee lived and been injured, the charge would have been DUI-assault first,” Blackwood told FOX10 News. “Criminally negligent homicide would not have been an option, and he would have been sentenced to a Class B felony. … He got less time because she died. That’s an injustice. I wanted to change that, and we did.”named in part for Rooney, the Devinee Rooney and John Wesley Holt Safe Streets Act. But the governor signed it again Monday at a public ceremony, with Blackwood among those in attendance. State Rep. Margie Wilcox sponsored the bill on behalf of Rooney and another Mobile County victim, John Wesley Holt. The 19-year-old University of South Alabama sophomore died in 2023 after another driver struck him on Old Shell Road. The other provision in the new law increases penalties for leaving the scene of an accident when a death or serious physical injury has occurred. Jasman Johnson ultimately pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident with injuries and received a five-year sentence, with all but one year suspended, for the Class C felony. Johnson got out after just six months behind bars.Milton woman arrested on felony charges including child pornography, sexual contact with animalFlorida man pulled over by troopers after multiple calls about missiles in his truck bedRep. Figures holds town hall near hometown communitySamsung adds iPhone-style sharing; Bluesky not happy over AI
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