In the News Briefs section of the paper last week, there was an article about the sentencing of the woman who struck and killed a tow driver near John Tyler Drive. It’s unclear whether The Malibu Times was handed all the information contained in the article, or just portions of it. Either way, the story raises more questions than it does answers.
First, the article states that the driver, Jill Rose, “allegedly” struck and killed the tow truck driver. The article itself was about the sentencing that was going to take place. However, the defendant had already pled guilty to both vehicular manslaughter and hit and run driving. Did she, or did she not, hit the guy?
Next, there is no mention of Rose driving while impaired anywhere in the article, other than the part of her proposed max sentencing that could include “one year of court-ordered rehab.” Was this woman drunk, or impaired in some way, when she allegedly struck the tow truck driver, or not?
Finally, if she hit and killed the tow truck driver, and if she was impaired at the time, what are the aspects to the case that led up to such a light maximum sentence, that includes no jail time?
Paul Skophammer