Law&Crime Sidebar - Drunk Pregnant Mom Crashed into 16 People, Killing 2: Prosecutors

Episode Date: May 21, 2024

Ashley Marie Monroe, 35, is locked up with a $1 million bond after Michigan law enforcement says she crashed into a group of 16 family members walking to a relative’s house along the side of a road. Monroe, who has four children and is pregnant with her fifth, was caught within minutes of allegedly fleeing the scene. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber analyzes the 11 felony charges Monroe now faces with anti-drunk driving advocate and attorney Tray Gober.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. 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. Mom of four children, pregnant with her fifth, is accused of being drunk when her car plowed into a group of more than a dozen pedestrians, killing two. Now she's locked up on a $1 million bond facing serious charges. We're going to break it all down with attorney Trey Gober. Welcome to Sidebar.

Presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. We have a story for you, and it is not a good story. It is a deadly hit and run near a park and water. Township, Michigan over the weekend, that resulted in the deaths of two people, 30-year-old Jonathan Esch, 42-year-old Daniel Harris. These men were part of a large group of family members walking along the side of a road toward a grandmother's house.

Early Saturday evening, a 38-year-old unidentified woman is reportedly still in critical condition. This is according to the Clinton County Sheriff's Office, and some of the other victims are children. Yeah, some as young as two and three-year-old. years old. The sheriff's office is fortunately, they had non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect in the crash, though, is 35-year-old Ashley Marie Monroe. Allegedly, she took off. She was arrested just minutes later. And get this, Monroe is a parent of four children, ages 13, 11, 7, and 1, and is pregnant with her fifth child. Police say that she was living with her fiancé. She had worked as a clerk for the

secretary of state's office for the past 18 months. Now Monroe appeared for the first time in court virtually on Monday where she waived having all the charges read out aloud to her. But here they are so we all know. Two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death. Two counts of failure to stop at the scene of an accident when at fault causing death. Six counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury. One count of failure to stop at a scene of an accident resulting in serious impairment or death. Now Monroe's attorney entered a not guilty plea to all the charges on her behalf. The defendant could be seen on the Zoom at times crying or wiping her eyes. During this first hearing, the prosecution laid out some of the horrific, horrific details

of the crash. I would ask the court to consider the fact that there were victims involved in the community safety. There were notes that the ear was a mostly empty pint of alcohol within the defendant's purse. The defendant had left the seat. of the accident which leaves concerns that there could have been more victims have the agencies not responded as quickly as they were able to that there was a pbt that was administered at the jail that result was a point one eight three there was also notes in the report that there were prescription medication models found within the vehicle in the defendant's purse.

I would ask the court to take those factors in consideration. The people have reviewed the information in this case, including her criminal history. Factors we think the court should consider is her record of a flight to avoid prosecution. Please note that several of the charges, felony charges, issued here, involved leaving the scene of an accident involving serious impairment and death. Second, under subsection C, we would like the court to consider her history of substance abuse and or addiction. As Ms. Dunl pointed out, there was an open bottle of Crown Royal, located in the defendant's purse. She was the only occupant and the driver of the vehicle, as well as two bottle, prescription bottles of antidepressions,

which were also prescribed to her in her possession at the time. The antidepressants are also relevant due to the defendant's mental condition pursuant to subsection D. And under subsection E, the seriousness of the offense charge and probability of conviction and likely sentenced. Here we have multiple victims, including the two deceased individuals, but we have other victims ranging in ages of 2, up to 60. And as their medical conditions are changing, and as we become a way, of more information, these charges could change to become more serious over the next few days. 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. Witnesses were located and came forward to describe her erratic and dangerous driving both before and after. she hit this group of people. And we would like to request that based on all these facts, if the court does provide a bond that she can post, that based on the level of intoxication and the egregious conduct here, that she be required to wear a scram tether

to ensure that she is not consuming alcohol if she's allowed back out into the public. We would request a bond of $500,000 cash jury. fact that the defendant allegedly left the scene, engaged in the flood, would be an important factor for this court to take into consideration, because there was an allegation that there was a serious accident that involved the death of two individuals so far, and serious injuries to numerous other injuries, and rather than stopping the scene of the accident to make sure that people weren't per seizes manager.

Allegedly the defendant chose to leave the same. Again, we're not talking about just a victim. We're talking about allegedly multiple features. We're talking about numerous, serious felony allegations. And I think here, due to the fact that the police had encountered the suspect within three minutes of the time that this call came in. It was incredibly fortunate.

It's based on the information from the court called called Swearing. The officer, after observing the suspect vehicle, saw the vehicle leave the road, drive through the grass, then come back on the road, and led you across the center of the plant. At that date and time, there was some very dangerous driving allegedly what was happening. It's very fortunate that the officers happened to

defend the suspect in such a short period time. So I think that looking at the right thing, that's another fact that the court has to take into consideration, looking at the dangerousness of the defendant and the allegations here, and the dangerousness of the alleged driving on the vacant kind of question would call for in this court's opinion a substantial bond in order to make sure that society is sufficiently and adequately protected. So the court is going to set the bond at $1 million cash in short. So the judge here actually chose to set Monroe's bond at $1 million. That was double what the prosecution had asked for.

They only asked for $500,000. He also forbid her from having any contact with any of the victims in this case. And she's due back in court on June 6th. I want to talk about this. and I want to bring in a special guest. I'm joined right now by trial attorney, Trey Gober. So, Trey, thank you so much for coming on. I'm happy to have you on because you actually sue drunk drivers, but also, if you can share with us,

you have a personal connection to these kinds of cases, too, don't you? Absolutely. Unfortunately, when I was nine years old, my family and I were vacationing down on the coast, Texas, and headed to the beach. and a second time drunk driver came across the center line and hit our vehicle. Fortunately, we were in a truck. Totaled the vehicle, everybody was injured. Unfortunately, that drunk driver has gone on to cause three more drunk driving crashes since then.

So it's a repeat offender situation that we often see in these circumstances. We can have as much sympathy as we can for those drunk drivers, if there's any kind of abuse issues, but the reality is, is there a danger to everyone else on the road? I'm so sorry. That's such a horrible experience, and unfortunately it happens a lot. And you do work with Mothers Against Drunk Driving as well, right? I do.

I volunteer a lot of time with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to meet. We don't like to use the word victims, but meet other survivors and, you know, fight for what's right in terms of reducing. the number of Trump driving injuries and deaths. It's 100% preventable. It's one of the few types of 100% preventable injuries that we have on our roadways. And so with more attention to the matter, hopefully we continue to do that. How scary is the world, right?

When you hear stories like that, it's frightening. And you know what one of the scariest things is, one of the most dramatic things, is if you get injured, if you get hurt. happens out of nowhere. You have to rush to figure out what to do next. That's why I want to take a minute to call out our great partner and sponsor here on Sidebar, Morgan and Morgan. This is a firm that you would want in your corner because they are specialists in this area.

Morgan and Morgan is America's largest injury law firm. And for a reason, they win a lot. They have secured multi-million dollar verdicts in settlements. In fact, they secured a $120 million verdict in one of the first person, injury trials post-pandemic. And there was a pretrial offer in that case of just $20,000. Yeah. So Morgan and Morgan, they don't settle for lowball offers. They will fight to protect your legal rights and for what you deserve in compensation. But one of the best things about Morgan and Morgan is how easy they make this whole process for their clients.

From starting your claim to uploading documents, to signing contracts, to talk to your legal team, it can all be done from your smartphone. That's it. Seeing if you have a case only takes a few minutes. And by the way, there's no upfront fee. You only pay them you win. So if you've ever been injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan and Morgan. You can start a claim in eight clicks or less without even having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit for the people.com slash LC sidebar or by dialing pound law. That's pound 529 on your phone. What's your initial take on this story? I don't know what's more disturbing. The fact that so many people were injured and killed, the fact that the

driver pregnant and there was crown royal found in the car there was also that she was in possession of antidepressants you know i don't know what's more disturbing about that yeah clearly there's something going on with this defendant you know to be in this situation uh all while while pregnant of course uh it's it's unacceptable a jury in a criminal or civil case is going to have absolutely zero sympathy for the defendant being in the situation. Certainly they can understand. The defense can explain why the defendant was having such a bad day on this particular day or bad moment. But that's simply not an excuse to put at risk, you know, everybody else and her unborn baby. Are these the right charges? When I mean by that, are they severe enough?

Are they serious enough for the type of crime that she's accused of committing? I mean, some are felonies. I kind of looked it up. Some carry five years in prison, four years in prison, but she wasn't hit with an involuntary manslaughter charge or something like that. And I should tell you, God forbid, at the time of this recording, if that condition worsens for one of those victims or survivors, the 38-year-old, these charges could be upgraded. But the fact that involuntary manslaughter is something more serious, do you think these charges are enough? Well, they're probably not enough, but I wouldn't fault the prosecution just yet. We see this often.

A well-prepared prosecutor won't overcharge on a case. It's a good strategy on the prosecution's part. Charge with the evidence that you have so that you know that you can obtain a conviction. There will be more evidence that comes forward. We will get the information from the blood draw to have a better idea of the exact blood alcohol content. There will probably be a download of the black box or the electronic data recorder out of the defendant's driver vehicle to see, you know, how she was driving or speeds, when did she break, did she ever break? Some newer vehicles even show to the extent that the wheel is being turned, you know, did she veer off the road? Did she intentionally veer?

And so as more data and information evidence becomes available, the prosecution is likely to bring additional increased charges, which is appropriate. That's so interesting. The mechanics of the car, the technology of the car, has that changed because of unfortunately these incidents and we want to understand how drivers are operating the car? Or is that just a circumstance? Do you know that technology is changing? but in a way it has an ancillary benefit to helping out in prosecutions of these people.

I think it's all of the above. It's a technology that's primarily there so that we can understand car crashes and how to make them safer. Car crashes are inevitable, so if we can help as a society develop science to make vehicles more crashworthy, then we're less likely to have severe injuries and deaths as a result of the car crash. crashes, but it's excellent data that's available, and we use it, we use it all the time, especially on these drunk driving cases. If she does have substance abuse issues, and clearly the idea of her abusing substances, especially while pregnant, that can't be a defense in any way?

It's not a defense as to liability. In other words, it's not a defense of whether or not she's guilty or not guilty. it's generally a defense for mitigation as to as to punishment so you know imagine her defense here would be I was a really bad state of mind I you know had all these things going on in my life I have underlying you know I think it was safe to say there's probably going to be an argument that there's some underlying depression there given the medications and and so it's a mitigating argument to say, you know, I don't need the max. I don't deserve the maximum punishment. I didn't do this with malice. I didn't try to hurt somebody. I didn't want to hurt somebody. So it lessens the mens rea, the mental element of the offense. What do you think about the fact that the judge doubled the bond to $1 million? Yeah, I mean, the judge wants to send a clear message here. This is unacceptable. You know, there's not going to be any tolerance for this

in the community, putting others at risk in this way and injuring others in this way. I think it's a good message. I think that we have to be careful with that, too, because the purpose of bond is not to pre-punish. Everybody is presumed innocent until proven guilty, even when the facts are so overwhelming as they are in this case. And so we have to be careful with a bond, a judge issuing a bond with the perceived intent of really punishing here. You know, the bond is to ensure appearance for trial. But she did allegedly leave the scene of the accident. So that's a big component of that if we're talking about flight.

But doesn't that give you an insight? If she takes this to trial and is convicted or even works out some sort of deal, the judge might not be so lenient in terms of a sentence. Does that give you an idea based on the bond amount? Yeah, I mean, you are getting a clear indication from the court that the court is going to come down with a heavy hand as much as the court has influence. And so that's an indicator. I think the defense attorney, though, ultimately will represent for the defendant, would know that. so hopefully hopefully you know there's going to be justice for this defendant and justice for this

family and and talk to me about whether there could be a lawsuit the civil action down the line what should we expect of that there's certainly going to be a civil action against the the driver and you know pursuing her her insurance policy unfortunately She simply doesn't, I have no idea how much insurance she has, but I can guarantee you she simply doesn't have enough for the type of injuries that she's caused here with two deaths, one person receiving critical medical care and everyone else who was injured. It's just, it's going to be incomplete justice from the civil side. Ultimately, there could be some other responsible parties. It's too soon now to identify. who those potential parties are or could be. Sad case. Trey Gober, thank you for coming on.

Thank you for sharing your experience. And also thank you for the work that you do, trying to hold people accountable in these situations. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Thank you. Having me. All right, everybody.

That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. As always, please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.