Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - COPS: "DRUNK ON CROWN ROYAL" PREGNANT MOM OF 4 MOWS DOWN 16, KILLS 2

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Breaking news tonight. Did a pregnant mom get drunk on Crown Royale and then plow into a group of 16 people, killing two? Yes, according to cops. Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Within minutes of the crash, at least eight ambulances arrive on scene as the victims' conditions worsen. First reports say seven people are injured and three critical. By the time local hospitals are alerted to a mass casualty incident, two people die of their injuries on scene. 13 people are transported to the hospital

Starting point is 00:00:52 via ambulance, more than half of them children. Dear Lord in heaven. Okay. I don't even know where to start. Have you ever seen the English teacher go up to the blackboard or green board and she starts dissecting a sentence? OK, where do I go with this? Pregnant, mom of four, prescription drugs, nearly empty bottle of Crown Royale in the car, slurred speech to dead 14 others in the hospital. There's just so many places to go with me and all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now, including a high profile attorney who specializes in DUIs. I don't know how you do it. A drunk mom of crown Royale, according to cops, she hasn't been proven guilty yet. But before I go to Ray Giudice, let me go to Erin Bolling joining us from Lansing. Multimedia journalist, WILX News 10.

Starting point is 00:01:53 Erin, thank you for being with us. What happened? Who is this woman? Yes. So officers say, well, the majority of the information we have on Ashley Monroe's background came from when the judge asked her attorney, is there any information you'd like us to consider when setting her bond? Now, her lawyer went on to say that she has no pending charges. She's not on probation. She's not on parole.

Starting point is 00:02:17 She has no felony record. She has no misdemeanor convictions. He says she has a completely clear criminal history. And he went on to say she is employed full time with the state of Michigan secretary of state's office. Wait, wait, Aaron Bowling, you are a fountain of facts. But right now it's more like a fire hydrant. I can't drink it in that quickly. Hold on.

Starting point is 00:02:39 So her big plus is she doesn't have a felony record. Okay. That's not what I would imagine putting at the top of your resume, but I'm more interested in what you were saying right there at the end. She works for who? She is employed full-time with the state of Michigan secretary of state's office. He said she's worked there as a clerk for the last year and a half. I'm just very, very curious. Raymond Giudice joining me, high profile criminal defense attorney in the Atlanta jurisdiction. I'm just wondering if she dared to throw that out there. Hey, I work for the secretary of state

Starting point is 00:03:17 because I just love it when people do that. I remember when Reese Witherspoon did something like that. Do you know who I am? And I love her, but that ruined everything for me. Trying to curry favor with the cops when you're totally zonked out and that near empty bottle of Crown Royale ain't helping a thing, Judy Chay. No, but what was important was that the lawyer presented this to the judge for bail bond purposes to show that she probably passed a thorough Secretary of State's Office for the state of Michigan background check, which would not have shown felony convictions. She wouldn't have been on probation and parole.

Starting point is 00:03:57 She wouldn't have been on the run from another jurisdiction. So what the lawyer is doing is saying, judge, we want a bail bond because she's a consistent person. She goes to work for the state of Michigan every day at eight o'clock, comes home at five o'clock. She has four children and she's pregnant, which is another issue for considering bail bond, the health of the individual. That was the relevance. I don't know what she told the police officers at the scene, but the relevance in the courtroom from the defense lawyer was to show this is a person that you should give a bail bond to. I really appreciate that a, probably in that jurisdiction, a well-known defense attorney could stand up in his Italian

Starting point is 00:04:39 suit and his Italian loafers and his gold Rolex and blah, blah, blah, and have a speech for the judge. Fine. I would be mad if he, she didn't because that's what they're getting paid to do. I'm asking about what happened at the time of the crash. Let me go back to Aaron Bolling. And I like the way you did that. Look here, not here, Judith Shea. Erin Bolling joining us. Journalist, WILX News 10. Can I get to the crash? Because I think I know what they're all going to say. But what happened at the time of the crash? There are two dead people.

Starting point is 00:05:15 Officers did say that she was located within just three minutes of the first call that officers received. And they went on to say, you know, that her car was located with severe damage to the front passenger side, consistent with witness statements, as well as blood, hair and other tissue on her vehicle. Now I'm hearing the facts. Joining me now is forensic expert, founder of the Cold Case Research Institute and star of a hit new podcast, Zone 7, Cheryl McCollum, joining us from her patrol car. Cheryl, thanks for joining us. A lot of people don't know that Cheryl also with MADD, M-A-D-D, Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Cheryl McCollum, let's break down what we know. Number one, a pregnant mom of four with a near empty bottle of Crown Royale. You know what Crown Royale is, right?

Starting point is 00:06:14 Because I had so many cases, usually prostitution cases, where on every crime scene, there'd be an empty bottle of Crown Royale in the corner. Gin bottles and pantyhose. That's what would be left of the crime scene there be an empty bottle of Crown Royale in the corner. Gin bottles and pantyhose. That's what will be left of the crime scene and Crown Royale. A pregnant mom of four with a near empty bottle of Crown Royale slams into 16 pedestrians walking along the side of the road, killing two. We've got two dead bodies and a drunk, pregnant mom. This is a family that was walking at 630. I mean, this isn't like it was two in the morning near some bar. They're walking to go to their grandparents' house. And when she hit that number of people, the evidence

Starting point is 00:07:07 that's going to be on her car, you're going to have blood from numerous victims, hair from numerous victims, tissue from numerous victims. The damage to the front end of her car would be massive. And she left the scene. And I just want to make one other point. This crime did not start at 630. This crime started the minute she either went to the liquor store or somehow gained that liquor and started to drink it. That's when this crime started. Well, let's break it down a little bit more than that. Joining me also, in addition to Aaron Bolling, W-I-L-X, Raymond Giudice from Atlanta, Cheryl McCollum, obviously, out in the field, Dr. Bethany Marshall is joining us, renowned psychoanalyst from L.A. And you can find her at drbethanymarshall.com. Her book, Deal Breaker, When to Work on at drbethanymarshall.com. Her book deal breaker, when to work on a relationship and when to walk away.

Starting point is 00:08:09 Dr. Bethany Marshall, what Cheryl McCollum just said, and this is what someone like Raymond Giudice would hate to hear in court. That's when his horns and his tail would pop right out full of anger. But this is the truth. It's not just at 6 30 PM. That's not when it all started. It started when mommy got that bottle of crown Royale and downed it. It started when allegedly when mommy got those prescription drugs,

Starting point is 00:08:44 antidepressants, and had a few of those. It's when mommy got the key to the car and went to the car, walked to the car, opened the door, got in the driver's seat, turned on the car, put it in reverse, put it in drive and hit the gas. It's each one of those steps which shows intent. That is why I have long advocated there should not be a differentiation between vehicular homicide charges and murder one charges. They both require intent. And of course, Dr. Bethany Marshall, you know that intent under the law does not require a long drawn out plan such as poisoning someone over a period of months till they finally kill over. Intent can be formed in the twinkling of

Starting point is 00:09:32 a moment, the blink of an eye, the time it takes you to raise a gun and pull the trigger, much less getting completely zonked out of your gourd and then getting in a car and driving. So let's address that, Dr. Bethany Marshall. Let's backtrack even prior to what you're describing. This is not the first time this woman has driven drunk. My sense of this is that she was holding herself together all day long. She has a binge drinking disorder. She left work.

Starting point is 00:09:58 She went straight to the liquor store. And she was trying to drink as much alcohol as possible before she went home. And Nancy, this was a hit and run. You know, in terms of intent, she kept on driving. So she knew that she had done something wrong. So this is not a woman who was in a blacked out state. She had no idea what she was doing. She was cognizant.

Starting point is 00:10:24 Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Bethany, you and Erin Bowling, too much, too fast. What did you say? She knew she was doing something wrong. You kind of glossed over that. She was very aware that this was wrong on multiple levels. Pregnant women should not drink. She has to go home and take care of her children. She hit multiple pedestrians, members of a family walking to their grandmother's house from the park. And then she fled the scene.

Starting point is 00:11:01 This tells me, Nancy, that she was not in a blacked out state, that she knew what she was doing. When I first read the story, I thought, well, maybe she was blacked out and she had no idea. That is not true. She drove off the road, through a park, went across the center median, got back on the road again to continue driving. So this is intent all over the place. This is not a woman who had a conscience about the people she hit. Could you repeat that slowly? She drove off the road and where? Through a park, back on the road, across the center median, away from the pedestrians that she hit. An entire family walking on their way to grandma's house. This is a woman who knew exactly what she was doing. You know, in terms of substance use disorder, we can guess that this woman has driven drunk many times. She has taken care of her kids

Starting point is 00:12:02 while she was drunk. She has gone to the hospital for checkups while she was drunk. This is not a woman who drank for the first time then. This has been a long, long lead up. And I'm sure many people in her community know about her drinking problem. And I think they are just as culpable as her because she's pregnant. She got behind the wheel. I can't believe that her husband or her partner doesn't know, that her parents don't know, that the community doesn't know. So everybody is complicit in this crime, not just her. Got to establish some more facts before I go to Maroney. What about what Dr. Bethany just told us. And she's correct that this mom, a mom of four, pregnant, allegedly drunk on Crown Royale found in her car, nearly empty. There's just a two couple drops left at the bottom. Went off the road, through a park, back onto the road and across a median? Guys, what more do we know? Listen. While first responders rushed to treat the victims,

Starting point is 00:13:10 Clinton County sheriffs worked to locate the driver. Three minutes after the crash, sheriffs noticed a car with significant damage to the front passenger side swerving off the road and over the center line. Once stopped, cops find hair, blood, and other tissue on the car. The driver identifies herself as Ashley Monroe. Officers immediately suspect alcohol may be a factor in the crash. On a Saturday evening, a large group of family is wrapping up their day at Lookingglass Valley Park in Waterton Township, a suburb of Lansing, Michigan.

Starting point is 00:13:40 Eight adults and eight children pack up and start the short walk back to their grandparents' home. The group of 16 walks along the shoulder of South Waukosta Road. Just before 6.30 p.m., an oncoming car plows through the family. Instead of offering aid, the driver takes off. Okay, what is Crown Royale? Okay, released in the U.S. in the 60s, a top selling Canadian whiskey. Here's what somebody writes. By the end of the night, I was pretty intoxicated, but could barely function.

Starting point is 00:14:13 I had a hangover from Crown Royale. OK, all I know is that this pregnant mom of four was point one eight point one eight. The legal limit in most jurisdictions is 0.08. Thanks to MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Oh, there she is. Oh, rough night. Oh, sorry. It wasn't night. It was still daylight. It was 630. When a family's plowed down on the side of the road, 16 people take a hit to dead. Joining me now is a world renowned medical examiner, Dr. William Maroney, medical examiner, toxicologist, pathologist, opioid expert, and author of American Narcan, Naxolone and Heroin Fentanyl Associated Mortality. And he has not only written about it, he's not just a talking head that talks about it, he personally has created a rolling opioid treatment facility.

Starting point is 00:15:13 He is out there in the trenches fighting addiction every day, not just in the morgue. He's trying to change lives, not just figure out how people died. Dr. William Maroney, it's a real honor and privilege to have you on with us today. Explain to me what you can in regular people talk about this mom. There's important information to build on what Stephanie Marshall said. Number one, you don't reach that level of alcohol just once or early in drinking. It's drinking for years. Number two, when she says other people know that this person has this drinking problem, the failure in the system is her OBGYN doctor is not completing universal screening for alcohol and substance use.

Starting point is 00:16:10 So her healthcare provider is failing her. Number two, she was hired into a state position that should have also screened her. So to say she's a state employee and she's responsible, they didn't screen her to catch alcohol and substance use. So there's multiple failures there. But the big thing, the big, the C word in Michigan is cannabis is legal. What's the C word? Cannabis, cannabis is legal. Crown Royale? What's the C word? Cannabis. Cannabis. Oh.

Starting point is 00:16:48 Marijuana. C word. Sadly, that's not where my mind went when you said the C word, but what does that have to do with this? Marijuana. Okay. I know she's got a really high blood alcohol. They're not telling us.

Starting point is 00:17:05 It's marijuana plus alcohol. Everybody's smoking in Michigan. Everybody's smoking. We have incomplete toxicology. And the driving is so erratic here, it's more than alcohol. So we have to wait for an expanded toxicology panel. I don't know if there is cannabis in her system. Antidepressants, pharmaceuticals, not with Crown Royal.

Starting point is 00:17:34 They won't release her toxicology until we get the court. Oh, that is so smart. Did you hear that Raymond Giudice? We don't have a full tox report, and he's right. We don't know everything that was in her system. We don't know if there was partner system. That's a theory. And again, she's innocent until proven guilty. But here's a little evidence you might need to hear, Raymond Giudice.

Starting point is 00:18:02 Listen. Cops find a nearly empty pint-sized bottle of Crown Royal in Monroe's purse along with anti-depression medication. Officers conduct a field sobriety test with the suspected hit-and-run driver Ashley Monroe. The results of that test have not been released, but a breathalyzer test performed at the Clinton County Jail revealed Monroe had a blood alcohol content of 0.183, over twice the legal limit. Swerving, booze and meds, the booze found in her purse. Okay, Raymond Giudice, I don't want to just come right out and say you're an expert in

Starting point is 00:18:38 whiskey, but let's just talk about what we're hearing right now. I'm hoping you did not come to air tonight with a flask in your pocket. I did not. It tells me something about her. Maybe I need to go to a shrink, but Dr. Bethany Marshall. But Ray, she's got a pint in her purse and there's just a few drops left at the bottom. I don't know about the pot, but I do know that there were prescription med bottles in her car. So it's kind of swerving along the road. Witnesses see her go into a park back on the road across the median. I've got two dead bodies, Ray. Why should she be treated any differently because she's pregnant that opens up

Starting point is 00:19:26 the pandora's box of fetal alcohol syndrome i can't believe that maroney didn't just come out of the gate with that fetal alcohol syndrome you know what that does to children when mommy drinks during pregnancy well nancy i agree with everything that was said by the doctor about the combination of this much alcohol with any type of painkillers marijuana antidepressants percocets you can go down the line it has a synergistic effect but i will say after prosecuting duis defending duis and probably looking at 2500 dui videos roadside videos field sobrieties A good prosecutor with a 0.183 breath test, the empty bottle of Crown Royal and the accident should be able to prosecute this case with or without the toxicology. And I'm not saying it's not relevant. It is relevant, but it doesn't

Starting point is 00:20:20 accelerate the case. It doesn't, unless they're illegal drugs, then it might. You've got a whole different ball of wax there. But if she's taking lawfully prescribed drugs, mixing them with alcohol, it's still the same charges. It's just more evidence. But there's lots of evidence. While arguing for a lower bond, Ashley Monroe's defense attorney explains that Monroe works as a clerk for the Michigan secretary of state and is a devoted mother to her four children, ages 13, 11, 7, and 1. Ronald Zalwecki vouches that Monroe has no criminal background and also reveals that Monroe is pregnant with her fifth child. Ambulances, eight of them race to the scene, but they cannot save two of the family members that are mowed down. Joining me in All-Star panel, I want to go straight to Cheryl McCollum, who not only is a crime scene expert, she was also with MAD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, for years. Cheryl, there's a statistic

Starting point is 00:21:22 that is always very, very alarming. For every time someone is caught DUI, driving under the influence, I believe the stat is they've driven how many times drunk? 80. At least 80 times. And Nancy, I want to, you know, just tell you, I got a C word for you. It's culpability. The responsibility is straight with Ms. Monroe. It is not her fiance. It's not her doctor. It's not her neighbor's responsibility. I have never encountered an alcoholic or a drug addict that didn't know it. She knew she had a problem. This was not the first time that she has driven intoxicated. She was twice the legal limit. And let me tell you something.

Starting point is 00:22:11 That bottle of Crown Royal in her purse was an attempt to hide it before she stopped police. Oh, yeah, that was definitely an attempt to hide it. A drunk, pregnant Michigan mom of four smashes into 16 pedestrians, killing two. Police say that Ashley Monroe, I'm not sure how far along she is, but showing her pregnancy, had an empty bottle of Crown in her pocketbook, two bottles of antidepressants and a BAC, blood alcohol level over twice the legal limit. So I'm very curious where the defense is going to go. Of course, they'll attack the blood alcohol sample. That'll be the first thing they do. But I'm very curious to you, Dr. Bethany Marshall. You came out at the beginning talking about how everybody knew

Starting point is 00:23:07 around her, knew that she had a drinking problem, but that may be true. But overarching is that it's not their problem. It's her problem. They didn't let her drive. They didn't let her drink. They didn't pour the crown royale for her. She did that all on her own. Actually, she probably drank straight from the bottle out of that pocketbook. So it's all on her. And how many times, think of those 80 times that Cheryl McCollum described, which is a leading statistic that is touted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. How many times do you think she's driven drunk with her four children in the car? You know, Nancy, I have to respectfully disagree with you and with Cheryl, although it hurts me

Starting point is 00:23:51 because I love you both so much. I think everybody is culpable. And the reason for this, Nancy, is that there are children involved and she's pregnant. Do you know that in the first trimester of pregnancy, the neurons in the brain are not yet assigned. So if the person, the mother brings alcohol, that predisposes the child to learning disorders, lower IQ, psychological issues throughout the lifespan. This mother, a one-year-old baby, she had a one-year-old. You can't tell me that she was providing good care for that one-year-old with the level of alcoholism that we're viewing here. So the crime is not just smashing into a group of people. There's neglect. So the culpability

Starting point is 00:24:32 of the whole community, I think, is because everybody knew she was a mother and drinking heavily. Who was there to be a voice for these children? Who was there to say that this mother is, to use your word, zonked out while she's trying to mother? There had to be other people who saw poor and neglectful parenting, and I think they are responsible. The other issue, Cheryl McCollum, the damage to the front end of her vehicle. You're a crime scene tech. You know all about forensic evidence. From what I understand, the front end of her car had very significant damage and there is blood and tissue belonging to the two victims, quote, knitted into the wreckage. That had to be a horrible impact if the front

Starting point is 00:25:29 grill of her car was that wrecked. Nancy, if you think about any vehicle you've ever seen that hit a deer, for example, she hit 16 people, all shapes and sizes. That car, running damage, had to be massive. You're going to have blood from numerous victims, hair and tissue from numerous victims. That car is going to be dented. The taillights are going to be busted, the hood, the windshield. There's going to be evidence all over the front of that vehicle. And, you know, when you think about that scene and responding to that scene, it's a family, one family. And you've got somebody as young as two, all the way up to almost 50, I think. And they watched two family members die at that scene. I cannot imagine the chaos and the trauma of watching that, hearing that, and then being a victim yourself with great injury. It had to be one of the worst

Starting point is 00:26:36 things these first responders have ever come upon. The alleged pregnant drunk driver Ashley Monroe is now facing 11 charges related to the crash. Monroe is charged with eight counts of DUI causing serious injury or death and three counts of leaving the scene of an injurious or deadly crash. At Monroe's arraignment, prosecutors hint that more charges may be filed as they learn more of the surviving victim's injuries. Monroe cries and appears distressed throughout her arraignment. Through a public defender, Monroe pleads not guilty to all counts. To Dr. William Maroney, joining us, medical examiner, toxicologist, and author, about how many drinks would equal over twice the legal limit.

Starting point is 00:27:18 I believe it is.185. Depends on the size and the weight of who's drinking, but that's probably five or six drinks coming out of a pint. And then you need one hour to come down enough. Well, you'd need four or five hours to come down from that level of drinking to less than not legally drunk. Any way you look at it, to get to that level and function as a driver is years of drinking. So that's not somebody who just had some Crown Royal this summer or a picnic or, you know, a little something after work. That's years of drinking. And that's where you'd have to say family members, people at work, OBGYNs, primary care, everybody had a chance to

Starting point is 00:28:15 screen her somehow. It's universal screening with OBGYNs. They have to ask you especially when you walk in as a new pregnancy new patients should be universally screened in ob gyn offices and then the interesting thing is she tested at the clinton county jail for the breathalyzer she was taken to a hospital and those results will not be back for two or three weeks and that'll be a full broad spectrum drugs of abuse and that's why they can't tell us what's in her they can't tell us what the antidepressants are just because she had antidepressants doesn't mean they're hers people swap and trade medicine all the time. What happens when you have the mixture of antidepressants and Crown Royale? Time-space dilation, misperception of speed, and blurred peripheral vision.

Starting point is 00:29:17 So when she hit those people, she wasn't going 20 miles an hour. She was going 55 or 60. I drive through Clinton County. I've been there. It's a good EMS, good law enforcement. But addiction services, it might as well be Roswell, New Mexico. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace guys two people dead an entire family mowed over by this drunk mom to raymond judice you know what's going to happen at trial right as you sit there squirming while the prosecutor gets out six glasses, gets a bottle of Crown and pours each one.

Starting point is 00:30:08 Or maybe they'll put it in a pitcher. That's much more effective, you know, and you pour it and you pour it and you pour it. I mean, I can't even drink six glasses of water that fast, much less six glasses of Crown. Really? Plus we think the antidepressants were waiting for that full panel of what was in her blood to come back. That's what we're waiting on. Whoa, what do you do in a moment like that? Like look at your fingernails, look out the window, play a little Candy Crush? Well, Nancy, when you have to sit through a bad case, you make sure that you, as you say, you focus on the evidence and your obligation to your client. But let me direct what I would do as a defense lawyer.

Starting point is 00:30:51 In Georgia, you have to be read what's called the implied consent law. Think of it as the Miranda rights for DUI charges. So was that breath test consensually given by her? Did the state get a warrant for the blood test? Look, these are the standard issues in any criminal defense case. What do warrant for the blood test? Look, these are the standard issues in any criminal defense case. What do you mean the blood test consensual? You think they chased down a pregnant, drunk lady and threw her down and took her blood? What do you mean was it consensual? Well, you know, we had this drop-down chair here in Georgia until it was approved by the

Starting point is 00:31:21 Supreme Court. So did they forcefully take a test? Was she willing in consent? And was she read their state of Michigan's functional equivalent of the implied consent? Because you have a right to decline to take either a breath test or a blood test in a DUI case. But those are standard charges in every single DUI case, whether it's a misdemeanor first offense or a felony vehicle homicide with multiple accidents. These issues are going to be pre-litigated because I want to get that breath test out of evidence so the good prosecutor can't set up the six glasses or the pitcher or the pint of Crown Royale. I mean, I know that's common. That's what a good prosecutor

Starting point is 00:32:03 do. Let me just say, most prosecutors in this, their biggest problem in this case is to not overdo it. You know, don't OJ Simpson it as the prosecution. Keep your eyes on the ball. Well, right there, I disagree with you. I wouldn't call it an accident, Ray. You know how I feel about that. This is a crash. This is no accident. I don't mean accident. I know you're going to characterize it as an accident, but hey, you know what? This is by far the first time that children have been mowed down by a drunk driver. Does the name Tyler Phillips? Phillips and his sister, Crystal Randolph, both of them were 13 years old at the time, were walking down Granny Road, and they were headed to their residence.

Starting point is 00:32:51 They were walking southbound in the bike lane when an unknown vehicle struck Tyler. A 13-year-old was killed, taken from us too early. The devastation that has hurt the family, words cannot explain. We need people to come forward. Waking up every morning not seeing my son hurts. So please come forward. Please. Christmas is not going to be the same without him.

Starting point is 00:33:32 And who could forget the name Ethan Couch, a.k.a. Affluenza Team? Ethan Couch was just 16 when he killed four people and wounded nine others while he was drunk on drugs and speeding. His attorney said it was his parents' fault for never telling the boy no, never having any consequences for his actions. It was called affluenza. And the judge bought it. Couch is sentenced to an unspecified rehab facility at his parents' expense. The time he had to stay, also unspecified, for killing four people. And he still didn't follow the rules. I mean, does it ever end?

Starting point is 00:33:59 I've got stacks of paper here. And all of these, as we call similar transactions, drunk drivers mowing down children on the side of the road, mowing down pedestrians that are just walking along the side of the road. So, uh, affluenza team mow down a Sunday school teacher. It just goes on and on. I mean, how do you stand it, Cheryl McCollum, when you were working with MAD,

Starting point is 00:34:28 Mothers Against Drunk Driving, day after day after day, a so easily avoidable homicide? Nancy, because the lives of these victims mattered and you have to fight every day because even though we have Uber and all these ride shares and Lyft, people still make the decision to get in their car intoxicated. So we have to get up and do it every day.

Starting point is 00:34:55 There's no choice in order for this crime to be reduced in some way, if not stopped. It's 100 percent preventable. 100 percent. Stay out of the car. That's all you got to do. Prosecutor Deborah Martinez asked the judge for a $500,000 bond, saying that had first responders not arrived so quickly, there could have been additional victims. Martinez argues that the sheer number of victims should constitute a higher bond, adding that the state believes Monroe poses a serious risk to the public. Judge Michael Clarizio agrees with Martinez, doubling the requested bond to one million dollars. They did their sparkler exit where everybody lines up and lights sparklers and they go underneath.

Starting point is 00:35:47 She's the happiest I've ever seen her in her life. They got on the golf cart. They left. Ten minutes later, we went to our Airbnb, which was before theirs, so they were still traveling. I started hearing sirens, and literally I looked at my daughter, and I said something happened to Sam. I knew something happened to Sam. Something did happen to Sam. You are hearing mom, Lisa Miller. Her daughter was actually leaving her wedding reception with the groom on a golf cart, still wearing her wedding dress. When a drunk driver, Jamie Komorowski plows into them, going across grass,

Starting point is 00:36:28 just like in the present case, killing Sam on her wedding day. I earlier asked Cheryl McCollum, forensic expert, former state director of Mad Mothers Against Drunk Driving, how she does it day after day after day, seeing drunk drivers claim lives. And Raymond Giudice, as much H-E-double-L as I've given you for defending drunk drivers, how do you do it every day? I know you win a lot of cases, practically every one, but how do you do it? Take that toll it must take knowing your client was completely drunk and claiming a life. Well, you know, Nancy, part of the problem is that often, as both of our doctors have pointed out, the defendant may not be the Al Capone type criminal that we so assigned to homicides. Most of them are basically in many parts of their life, good, productive citizens with a substance problem,

Starting point is 00:37:33 abuse of the substance. And so their whole life is being measured by that day, by the three hours at the bar. And it's tragic because they're often just like this individual. They don't have a criminal history. They have children. They go to a job with the state of Michigan. They pay taxes. And now they're being prosecuted for a type of homicide violation. So they deserve the best. Listen, we have great prosecutors in the state of Georgia. I don't win every case. I wish I did. Good folks like Cheryl and Matt.

Starting point is 00:38:07 When I was a baby prosecutor in 1985 here in DeKalb County, Georgia, the legal limit was.12. It's been reduced by a third. And it's been reduced by greater amounts for tractor-trailer drivers, commercial drivers, and young adults. So Matt's done a great job. I'm a citizen of this community. I don't want anybody I know, love or care about to be harmed by a drunk driver. You know, Ray, what you said is a dichotomy that I could not afford as a prosecutor. Yes, I know this is a mother of four. You think she wants to be separated from her children? You know what? You might as well just put a stake through my heart and take me away from John David and Lucy. You think she's happy behind bars, pregnant,

Starting point is 00:38:50 away from her other four children, thinking about what she's done? We haven't even said the names Jonathan Esch and Daniel Harris. They're dead. But in my world, in order to focus on the facts, I can't feel empathy for the drunk mom. I can't. I have to look at the facts and the facts are as much as this is a tragedy for her, she will live. Her children will live. Jonathan Esch and Daniel Harris will not. And their families will have a life sentence without them. I do not envy this jury. And we wait as justice unfolds. Right now, we stop to remember American hero Sergeant Richard Mendez, Philly. Sergeant Mendez shot and killed at the Philly airport 23 years with the force. Now awarded posthumously the Purple Heart and Medal of Honor.

Starting point is 00:39:58 Survived by grieving wife Alexandra, daughter Mia. American hero Sergeant Richard Mendez. I want to thank all of my guests, even the ones that I fight with, for all of their knowledge, their expertise that they bring to us every night. But I want to especially thank you joining us here at Crime Stories as we all seek justice. Nancy Grace signing off. Good night, friend.

Pet Camera - EBO Air 2

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - COPS: "DRUNK ON CROWN ROYAL" PREGNANT MOM OF 4 MOWS DOWN 16, KILLS 2

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.

Your Ad Here

Pet Camera - EBO Air 2

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - COPS: "DRUNK ON CROWN ROYAL" PREGNANT MOM OF 4 MOWS DOWN 16, KILLS 2

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.