Former state trooper sentenced in car accident death

The Boston Globe reports that a former state trooper who pleaded guilty to causing a car crash that killed the wife of an Atlanta Braves trainer is to serve two years in prison, a judge ruled yesterday.

The former Georgia trooper was also ordered to eight years of probation after his release from prison on the vehicular homicide charge.

After his release, he will also have to educate law enforcement personnel on the “dangers and responsibilities” of their jobs, according to the report.

The former officer was driving with his siren and lights on when his squad car slammed into a vehicle the woman and her husband were in on their way to a football game on New Year’s Eve of 2011.

In his decade with the Georgia State Patrol, the former officer had a long record of being involved in car accidents. According to a report, he was in 20 crashes in his patrol car. Seven of those were determined by investigators to be his fault.

From 2008, he was in five crashes that were his fault, personnel records showed.

On February 8, 2011, and again two days later, he was at fault each day in a car crash.

Witnesses said that on New Year’s Eve of 2011, he “failed to use due regard when traveling through (an) intersection” in which he had a red light.

His patrol car slammed into the passenger side of an SUV going through the intersection with a green light. The SUV was smashed into a utility pole by the squad car.

The trooper was apparently on his way at the time to assist another trooper, who was making a traffic stop on an interstate.

An experienced attorney can help victims pursue justice, no matter who is negligent or reckless in a car accident.

Source: Boston.com, “Man sentenced in crash that killed,” April 16, 2013

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