16 years for DWI Manslaughter...

[Kaneman]

Usually I'm posting about bullshit sentences or bad police work, so I wanted to post something I really liked. I'm all for punishment of crime that actually hurts people. Don't drink and drive!

Star-Telegram.com
Near-maximum sentence is handed down in fatal Arlington wreck

Posted Thursday, Mar. 25, 2010

By TIM MADIGAN

tmadigan@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH -- An Arlington woman with no criminal history was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in prison for being drunk when she caused a collision in January 2009 that killed a young man.

Jurors also recommended that Erica Kolanowski, 31, spend 10 years in prison for intoxication assault because a passenger in the car was permanently maimed in the crash.

Kolanowski had pleaded guilty to the two charges before testimony began this week in Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 4, but she asked a jury to decide punishment.

After passing sentence, state District Judge Mike Thomas ruled that Kolanowski could serve her two prison terms concurrently. She must serve at least eight years before she's eligible for parole.

Jurors also assessed fines of $6,000 on each charge.

She could have been sentenced to a maximum of 20 years on the intoxication manslaughter charge. Ten years is the maximum for intoxication assault.

Testimony this week showed that at about 11 p.m. Jan. 11, 2009, Kolanowski's SUV hurtled down Green Oaks Boulevard in Arlington at more than 70 mph, ran a red light and broadsided a small car driven by Matthew Lundy, which had pulled into a busy intersection on a green light.

Lundy's passenger, Joshua Carter, 20, was killed almost instantly; Lundy, then 21, spent 85 days in a Fort Worth hospital and now uses a wheelchair.

After a night of drinking at two Arlington nightclubs, Kolanowski's blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit, prosecutors told jurors.

Sentences please prosecutor

Prosecutor Michele Hartmann called the almost-maximum sentences a "deterrent verdict and a punishment verdict."

"If it makes people think twice, [about drinking and driving] then that's absolutely fabulous," she said.

Hartmann said she had prepared Carter's and Lundy's families for lighter sentences because of the nature of intoxication-manslaughter cases. Unlike other felonies, such as murder, rape or robbery, juries in alcohol-related cases can often identify with the defendant.

"They can feel a sense of 'there but for the grace of God go I,'" Hartmann said. "These are very difficult cases, very emotional cases. We could only hope for the best, and certainly we are extremely pleased with the verdicts and I think the families are as well."

Carter's mother, Peggy Pierce, said: "It's a sad day any way you look at it. I guess I'm satisfied with [the sentences]. I never expected the justice system to work, and I worried about that. I felt like if they didn't give her anything, it would be an insult to my son and Matt.

"But my son is still not here. The world still keeps turning and it shouldn't."

Kolanowski's friends and relatives described her as a gentle and deeply spiritual person who made a tragic mistake, and asked that she be sentenced to probation.

When the verdict was announced, Kolanowski wept and placed her head on the defense table. Her mother, Mary Adams Powers, sobbed behind her. Powers, who works with the poor in Michigan and established a foundation to combat Hepatitis C, testified this week that her daughter shared a similar concern for the downtrodden.

Powers declined to comment after the verdict, but Kolanowski's partner, Angela Fiorenzo, said the punishment was excessive.

"People actually go out and do things intentionally to murder somebody, and they get probation. It's not fair," Fiorenzo said. "I'm not saying that I think she should have gotten probation, but I think it was a little extreme.

"But she's still here. They're not going to do anything to her, so she'll be back when it's time."

'You've taken his life'

After the verdict, relatives of the victims were allowed to speak to Kolanowski in the courtroom.

"You've taken his life," said Lundy's mother, Vicki Hanzelka. "You've destroyed the hopes and dreams I had for him and he had for himself."

Lundy who watched from his wheelchair, had prepared a photo montage that was shown on a video screen. Early photos showed him as a boy and a strapping young man who joked with friends and family, swam and played sports.

"Then I met you," the text on the video said.

The photographs that followed were of Lundy's mangled car, breathing tubes he used as he fought for life in an intensive care unit, and scars.

"Don't forget me," the text said in conclusion. "Because I sure won't forget you."

Kolanowski and her mother were sobbing.

TIM MADIGAN, 817-390-7544

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