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News
Cut sentence in crash that killed five teens? : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisCut sentence in crash that killed five teens?
| Appellate court justices hear arguments as family members watch
| by Tony Scott
| 5/17/2012
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The Second District Appellate Court heard arguments Monday the prison sentence given to the driver in the 2007 accident that killed five Oswego teens was excessive.
Additionally, attorneys for Sandra Vasquez argued that the statute allowing for probation when "extraordinary circumstances exist" is "unconstitutionally vague."
Vasquez, formerly of Aurora, is serving a 15-year prison sentence at Lincoln Correctional Center in downstate Lincoln, Ill.
She was sentenced by Kendall County Judge Clint Hull in August of 2010 following an emotion-filled trial that featured testimony from three of the crash's surviving victims, the crash victim's families, and Vasquez's family.
Vasquez was giving a ride to eight teenage passengers in her five-passenger Infiniti sedan early in the morning of Feb. 11, 2007, when the vehicle slammed into a utility pole along the east side of Ill. Route 31 near River Run Boulevard in Oswego.
Killed instantly in the crash were Oswego High School students Matthew Frank, 17, Tiffany Urso, 16, Jessica Nutoni, 15, and Katherine "Katie" Merkel, 14. James McGee, 14, was severely injured in the accident and later died of his injuries.
According to testimony given at the trial and information available following the crash, Vasquez and the teens were coming from a party hosted by one of her cousins at a home in the unincorporated Boulder Hill subdivision owned by Vasquez's aunt.
Vasquez was convicted on multiple counts of aggravated driving under the influence and reckless homicide following the accident.
Members of Vasquez's family as well as family members of the victims were present during the oral argument hearing at the Appellate Court Building in Elgin Monday morning.
Appellate Court Judges Robert McLaren, Ann B. Jorgensen, and Mary Schostok heard arguments by Assistant Appellate Defender Sherry Silvern for Vasquez, and Assistant Appellate Prosecutor Scott Jacobson.
During the hearing, Silvern argued that the statute allowing for probation in "extraordinary circumstances" did not define that term enough. Further, she argued that the legislature did not give enough guidance to defense attorneys on what that term should mean.
Kathleen Colton, Vasquez's attorney during the Kendall County trial, had argued to Hull that Vasquez's work as a nurse for Alzheimer's patients and her clean criminal history should have been considered when she was sentenced.
In her brief filed with the court, Silvern argued that the 15-year prison sentence was "excessive where the trial court found many mitigating factors and Sandra's remorse, cooperation, rehabilitative potential, countless letters of support, and complete lack of any true criminal history demonstrated such circumstances requiring a lesser sentence."
However, in his counterargument, Jacobson said the definition of such "extraordinary circumstances" that would merit probation should "speak for itself." He said the defendant is given an opportunity during a sentencing hearing to present their circumstances and background that could influence their sentence.
"With respect to this argument that the statute is vague or doesn't give a clear definition, the repeated argument that it's vague is solely because the defense is refusing to accept any reasonable definition of the term itself," Jacobson said. "I don't believe that this was a decision that was arrived at lightly."
In her argument that the sentence was excessive, Silvern noted that many of her own DUI clients have "loaded" with previous DUI convictions, compared to Vasquez's "minimal" criminal background.
But Schostok countered by asking how many of those clients killed five people in their DUI accident?
"How do you submit that we find that the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing the defendant to 15 years when she killed five people, regardless of what her prior criminal history is or lack thereof?" Schostok said.
In her brief, Silvern requests that the appellate court find the statute unconstitutionally vague, vacate Vasquez's sentence and force the Kendall County court to give her a new sentencing hearing. Or, if they don't find it unconstitutional, to find that her sentence was an "abuse of discretion" and either reduce the sentence or send it back to the county court for a new hearing.
The judges could take several weeks or months before a decision is rendered.
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