Letter: Sentencing follows the law - The Columbian

The recent commentaries on the appropriateness of a 20-month sentence for Joseph Dudley reflect a misunderstanding of Washington law. The commentators appear to think that Dudley was not convicted of vehicular homicide. However, he was.

In Washington, vehicular homicide can be charged based on any of three different theories: (1) the driver was intoxicated; (2) the driver was reckless; or (3) the driver disregarded the safety of others. The last alternative requires the jury or court to find an aggravated form of negligence. The law requires the driver to be a “proximate cause” of the injury or death.

The last alternative does carry the least sentencing consequence, which is appropriate given a lower level of culpability. The prosecutors obviously made a determination that this was a fair resolution of the case, and as one letter pointed out, saved the county the cost of what would have been an expensive trial.

It is incorrect to say that Dudley will soon be able to drive. The conviction carries with it a long license revocation consequence.

Hopefully, when Dudley gets out of prison, he will have learned a hard lesson, and will begin to pay restitution for the damage he caused to the Apana family.

source: https://www.columbian.com/news/2022/feb/14/letter-sentencing-follows-the-law/

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