A 39-year-old Georgia man who is accused of killing a 74-year-old woman in a August 2011 car crash while he was under the influence of alcohol was cited for another DUI on June 15. In this latest incident, the man reportedly rear-ended a vehicle that had been stopped at a traffic light on Georgia Highway 278 in Covington.
When family members of the victim from the fatal accident found out that he was bonded out of jail shortly after this last DUI arrest, they contacted the Newton County District Attorney’s Office to voice their displeasure. The man was taken into custody shortly before noon on June 19 and was being held without bond. The daughter-in-law of the woman killed in the 2011 accident told a local news outlet that it was a small victory for the family, but they were ready for his trial to begin.
The man faces charges of DUI and vehicular homicide in connection with the August 2011 wreck, and his trial will begin on Nov. 3. According to the news source, the man was cited for DUI several weeks before that deadly crash. As in the two cases that followed, he was bonded out for that June 2011 charge. The news source did not provide any information on his bond amount in any of the three cases.
The vehicular homicide and DUI charges from the August 2011 accident are both likely felony counts for the man from these incidents. He may want to speak with an attorney about the potential of a plea bargain being worked out with the prosecution. If hired, a DUI defense lawyer could advise him to enter into a treatment program for alcohol abuse in an effort to make a plea bargain a more feasible option. Although he would still face penalties if convicted on lesser charges, they would be less severe than those that would come with felony convictions.
Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution, “Man facing multiple DUI charges has bond revoked”, Michelle E. Shaw, June 19, 2014