September 28, 2004
The man who killed Alan Liu
Sure, it was buried on an inside page, but the drunk driver who killed a Bay Area cyclist this spring received a prison sentence yesterday.
This sets a good precedent, although the eight-year sentence is too light (the charges to which he pleaded guilty carry small prison terms), especially since the driver was without a valid licence. I wish that a prosecutor could construe this as wilfull, or first-degree, manslaughter, rather than vehicular manslaughter. The guilty party is a lawyer -- he has special knowledge of these circumstances! -- and got behind the wheel of his car voluntarily, while intoxicated. Is this comparable to firing off a gun randomly into a crowd?
