Reply With QuoteIt seems like everyone is always sorry after the fact. You ever notice that?
Drunken boater gets prison
By Harold Kruger/Appeal-Democrat
A drunken boater who slammed into the shore at Bullards Bar Reservoir, seriously injuring his passenger, was sentenced Monday to more than four years in prison.
Yuba County Judge Kathleen O'Connor imposed the sentence on Forrest D. Smith, 44, who pleaded no contest to a felony violation of the Harbors and Navigation Code.
The Probation Department had recommended a six-year sentence, noting Smith's lengthy prior record and state prison commitments. O'Connor gave him four years and four months.
Smith, who lived in Nevada City, was arrested in August following the accident in which his female passenger suffered a nearly severed liver, a collapsed right lung and a concussion, according to his probation report.
Deputies found 29 empty beer cans inside the boat and two empty cans outside, the report said. There also were 15 unopened cans of beer in the boat.
Smith's blood alcohol level was measured at .162 percent, the report said. The legal limit for driving is .08 percent.
"This was a very serious accident. I had no business drinking that Saturday afternoon, let alone operating a boat," Smith said in a letter to the judge. "I'm terribly sorry for my poor choices and the damage it has caused. This was not an intentional or premeditated criminal act, yet my past is being brought up. And this was an isolated incident."
According to the probation report, Smith was sentenced to state prison seven times between 1987 and 1999, all from Contra Costa County. He violated parole four times.
"Five years ago, I committed my life to Christ," Smith wrote. "I've lived a new life since then - far from perfect - but I stopped stealing, drugs and all criminal behavior."
Because of the latest arrest, "I've lost my job. My house is on the verge of foreclosure, and I'll soon be bankrupt," he wrote. "I have ongoing health issues."
In 1996, Smith was diagnosed with cancer, the probation report said. He underwent radiation treatment and had a portion of his neck removed. Doctors recently discovered "spots" on his stomach, the report said.
"Each and every one of us makes mistakes, some not so serious, but what we want is to learn and grow from them so they are not repeated," Smith's wife said in a letter to O'Connor. "If you knew the man I know today, you would know how much this accident is hurting him, emotionally and spiritually, how it's tearing him apart. It has hurt someone physically and has hurt those he loves by not filling his responsibilities as a husband, son, father, employee and friend. We ask for mercy that we can move forward and not slip back into the sins of the past."
It seems like everyone is always sorry after the fact. You ever notice that?
At least some Judges get it.
Lately here in Parker you can kill from 1 to 3 people, flee the scene to keep from getting tested for alcohol, and get a year in Jail.
But that will change on Jan 1st with the new County Attorney coming in. We'll have to work on the Judge in 2006.
Its about Damn time.
At least some Judges get it.
Lately here in Parker you can kill from 1 to 3 people, flee the scene to keep from getting tested for alcohol, and get a year in Jail.
But that will change on Jan 1st with the new County Attorney coming in. We'll have to work on the Judge in 2006.
Wowww!
Way to go Alan, I have to agree with you completely.
Drunken boater gets prison
By Harold Kruger/Appeal-Democrat
<snip>
"Five years ago, I committed my life to Christ," Smith wrote. "I've lived a new life since then - far from perfect - but I stopped stealing, drugs and all criminal behavior.".
Stopped all criminal behavior?!?!?!?! Because operating a boat while drunk is not considered criminal behavior? :hammer2:
"Each and every one of us makes mistakes, some not so serious, but what we want is to learn and grow from them so they are not repeated," Smith's wife said in a letter to O'Connor.
Apparently he did not learn!
Is it just me or does this guy sound like a total douche bag? A douche bag who is so good at doing a douche bag even his wife who he was probably doing more harm as a free man then he will do her in jail is tyring to keep him out of jail. The again maybe he made her write that letter telling her if she didnt he'd kill her.
The guy has 29 open beer cans in his boat. He has a female passenger on his boat. Nowhere did it mention his family or anyone else other then the one female passenger. My guess is that this woman is this dudes trailer park mistress and they were having a wsonderful Beaumont style weekend getting hammered then planning to go back to the 1970's Chevy nester molester van and have wild sex.
A man of god who is having an affair and sh*t face drunk. Doesn't sound like he's doing a very good job being a man of god. I say he got what he deserved. His family will be better off without him.
I posted a while back about a guy that got 6 months for running over a boat at 2 AM and leaving the scene. A 23 year old girl died.
The owner of the boat had testified during the driver's trial he was in bed while his idiot friend took it out. There was an article in the paper a few days ago saying that the boat's owner was in fact most likely in the boat when the accident occurred. The cops figured this out by cell phone records. The POS boat owner is the president of the local Crime Stoppers chapter and a prominent citizen.
You would hope he would get some jail time for perjury and participating in what I call a murder. But if the f*cking moron judge gave the killer just 6 months, I suppose they'll give this guy a weekend in jail and a case of beer.
It is great that he is sorry, but he still has to face the consequences. But that is the liberal democrats at work...."He is sowwy, ahhhhhh, he learned his lesson.....besides, we only write laws to make us look good as if we care, but never intend to enforce them as that would be unfair....it is really someone else's fault, possibly the church, for making him deny his needs so long, that he was forced into this binge......and we are sure that there is a far right wing conspiracy to disenfranchise this person some how...we have no proof....but we will make the accusation anyway." And amazingly, it is amazing how people justify that their situation is special and deserve special treatment or even get off because they are sorry and suffered enough.
A side story. Some friends were over the other day with thier kids. My 4 year old hit the other 4 year old pretty hard. Nothing deliberate as they were amped up and playing a bit rough. My 4 year old immediately said he was sorry, and the other mom was very moved and said it was o.k. My son immediately went to his room, as he knows that is unacceptable behavior. Our friend asked him where he was going, and he said he had 3 minutes of quiet time and confirmed with my wife, who agreed. The other mom was a bit confused as she said that it appeared that our son was genuinely sorry. My wife said of course he is, he knows it is wrong, but he also knows that it does not matter whether or not he intended, he still had consequences. The other mom kind of gruffed like we were extremist...now the best part. When our 4 year old came back out, because we have a 0 tolerance policy on violence (hitting, kicking, biting, and etc) that there was additional consequences - he had to pay a fine (with a toy) that he would not get back - ever. And not some crappy toy either. He came out, and the other mother tried to consul him. He moved away and picked out a toy and gave it to my wife. Of course, the other mother is not sure what is going on. We explained to her, and now she is convinced that we are off of our rockers. Her point was that he was truly sorry. Our 4 year old explained to her why he still had to suffer the consequences....which brought tears to my wife, and me a tad (don't tell anyone). He is 4!! My wife said, we are very happy that he is sorry - that means he has feelings and recognizes when he has hurt someone, but we want to teach him to take FULL responsibility for his actions, intentional or unintentional, as that is severly lacking in society. My wife said we could protect him from these lessons and let him find out what the real world has in store for him, and let him find out that he still has to go to jail for unintentionally killing someone and so forth, or gets fired for being late to work. But why wait to teach him those lessons when the costs are so high?.....why not teach him now while the lessons are very affordable and prepares him for the real world? We try to run our house hold like the real world as much as possible, since as parents, our job is to train and prepare them for the real world. The other mother had no reply, except that we were excessive. She left about 5 minutes later. Funny thing is, her kids are almost always out of control, but she says that they are just being kids....she forgot about the part about where she is just supposed to be the parent. We are definitely in a minority with our views, but we don't care...we know we have set an environment for the best odds of raising responsible kids....I know, that is just a crazy idea.
HolyMoly, you and wife sound like wonderful parents. That brought a tear to my eye.
Traci
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