A 21-year-old Hermitage woman who had been out drinking late one night in December gave her car keys to her 23-year-old boyfriend, thinking he was sober enough to drive.
But the night turned tragic when her boyfriend struck and killed two young men about their same age on Demonbreun Street near the Music Row roundabout, then drove her Toyota Scion across a median and hit a taxicab head-on.
Erin Brownââ¬â¢s boyfriend was charged with vehicular homicide and assault. She had been in the passenger seat. But in a rare use of the law, police also are charging Brown with the same crimes.
She faces as many as three decades in prison.
Police and prosecutors says Brown violated a part of the highway safety section of the Tennessee Code that makes it unlawful for the owner of a vehicle to direct, require or knowingly permit the operation of a vehicle in any manner contrary to the law.
Allowing someone to drive your car when you know they are drunk, prosecutors say, makes you criminally responsible for their actions.
The District Attorneyââ¬â¢s Office commonly charges vehicle owners with driving under the influence for allowing a drunk person to drive their car.
But the vehicular homicide charge, a felony, against Brown is the first of its kind in Nashville.
Full article with pictures: http://www.tennessean.com/article/2...ar-homicide-after-handing-over-keys-boyfriend
Question: Do you think she should be charged with vehicular homicide? Why or why not?
But the night turned tragic when her boyfriend struck and killed two young men about their same age on Demonbreun Street near the Music Row roundabout, then drove her Toyota Scion across a median and hit a taxicab head-on.
Erin Brownââ¬â¢s boyfriend was charged with vehicular homicide and assault. She had been in the passenger seat. But in a rare use of the law, police also are charging Brown with the same crimes.
She faces as many as three decades in prison.
Police and prosecutors says Brown violated a part of the highway safety section of the Tennessee Code that makes it unlawful for the owner of a vehicle to direct, require or knowingly permit the operation of a vehicle in any manner contrary to the law.
Allowing someone to drive your car when you know they are drunk, prosecutors say, makes you criminally responsible for their actions.
The District Attorneyââ¬â¢s Office commonly charges vehicle owners with driving under the influence for allowing a drunk person to drive their car.
But the vehicular homicide charge, a felony, against Brown is the first of its kind in Nashville.
Full article with pictures: http://www.tennessean.com/article/2...ar-homicide-after-handing-over-keys-boyfriend
Question: Do you think she should be charged with vehicular homicide? Why or why not?
