Drunk driving accidents often seem particularly tragic because they are so preventable. A Pennsylvania courtroom is currently the setting for the trial of a man who is accused of killing a sheriff's deputy from another state in one such drunk driving accident. The 36-year-old man, also from that other state, was allegedly fleeing from law enforcement officials in his jurisdiction and crossed over into Pennsylvania during the course of the police chase.
The purported drunk driver is now standing trial in Pennsylvania for allegations of murder of a law enforcement officer along with homicide by vehicle while driving drunk and a count of criminal homicide. Ironically, the drunk driving suspect was reportedly in the process of fleeing from a hit-and-run accident at the time of the second crash. He allegedly slammed into the patrol car of a 41-year-old police deputy and caused fatal injuries to that man.
The man on trial for the alleged drunk driving accident maintains that he didn't intend to crash into the deputy's vehicle. He further claims that he especially did not intend for the man to lose his life. Of course, even with that being said, if authorities can prove that he was driving while under intoxication those may become moot points as his criminal trial progresses.
Drivers in Pennsylvania and other states owe a duty of reasonable care when they get behind the wheel. The family of this West Virginia sheriff's deputy must now learn how to cope without their loved one in their lives. Sometimes after such a fatal drunk driving accident, a family will choose to file a wrongful death lawsuit in order to seek another measure of justice and provide restitution for the economic damages that they have suffered.
Source: The Charleston Gazette, "Pennsylvania trial begins for man in W.Va. deputy's death," Dec. 11, 2012
