Prosecutor asks for three years for causing fatal traffic accident

May 21, 2015 9:45 AM
PHILIPSBURG--The Prosecutor’s Office requested three years and a five-year revocation of his driver’s licence Wednesday against the man who caused a fatal traffic accident on Bishop Hill Road, which took the life of a 46-year-old pedestrian.
 
David Charles was killed early Saturday morning, February 28, when he was hit by a car on Bishop Hill Road. A Nissan X-Trail SUV was travelling from the roundabout at the junction of Bishop Hill Road and A.Th. Illidge Road towards Oyster Pond at 6:55am when the driver lost control of his vehicle and hit a car that was parked on the side of the road.
 
Charles, who was walking down the road from his house to take garbage to the bin, was hit by the car and landed under the wheels of a backhoe, which was parked on the property where the accident occurred. The victim suffered severe trauma to his head and body and died on the scene.
 
The driver of the car, suspect A.R.D. (28), said he could not remember anything about the accident. A blood test revealed he had a blood alcohol level of 2.33 per cent, more than five times than permitted.
 
D. had been working from 7:00am that day. He did not have breakfast or any other proper meal during the entire day, but had been drinking several Desperados with his girlfriend’s brother, after which he had visited Casablanca adult entertainment centre, where he had consumed more beer and cognac.
 
The accident occurred while he was on his way home after almost 24 hours without sleep. D. told the Judge on Wednesday that he had no recollection of how much he had been drinking that day or how the accident had happened.
 
D., who is working at his father’s accountant’s office, is currently under supervision by the Parole Board and by Mental Health Foundation. He said he was willing to pay the cost of the victim’s funeral, via his insurance. The victim’s widow filed a claim for damages during Wednesday’s court proceedings.
 
Prosecutor Tineke Kamps said she did not consider manslaughter proven in this case, as the defendant did not purposefully kill the victim. “He did make some very wrong decisions, but there is no evidence that he was driving around like a madman,” the Prosecutor said in requesting an acquittal on this charge.
 
The Prosecutor, however, found it proven that D. was guilty of culpable homicide, which involves the illegal killing of a person without an intention to kill. This crime carries a maximum prison sentence of two years, but when committed under the influence the same crime carries a maximum sentence of six years.
 
“He has given insufficient consideration and has acted recklessly,” said Kamps. “He literally drove the victim out of his shoes, which is an indication that the suspect was speeding.”
 
The Prosecutor also pointed at surveillance camera images shot at Casablanca, in which suspect was seen walking unsteadily.
 
The Prosecutor recommended the Court to award damages to the widow to the tune of US $5,000. Suspect’s lawyer Shaira Bommel said the claim for damages should be rejected because it was “too vague and too complicated. A civil court should be dealing with this matter,” said Bommel.
 
The lawyer denied that her client had been driving recklessly. Bommel said no traffic-accident analysis had been carried out by the police and, therefore, it could not be established that her client had been speeding.
“My client’s guilt cannot be automatically derived from the seriousness of the consequences. A minor case of inattention can also have big consequences,” Bommel said. The lawyer denied that her client had been driving recklessly, “very imprudent at best,” she said.
 
The lawyer said her client, who is suffering from fits of panic since the accident, is showing a lot of remorse and has extended his sincere condolences to the bereaved. She said D. should not be sent back to prison and called on the Court to impose a suspended sentence, in combination with community service. The Court will give its decision June 10.
 
The Daily Herald
 
In thiis case suspect A.R.D. is represented by attorney at law Shaira Bommel of Sulvaran & Peterson in Sint Maarten. The Prosecutor's Office Sint Maarten is represented by Prosecutor Tineke Kamps.
 

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