Woman gets 4 years for deadly 4th DUI
A Fort Lupton woman responsible for the traffic death of a Brighton woman last August already had three drunken driving convictions on her record.
The August crash that resulted in the death of 32-year-old Crystal Herman was Angelica Bujanda's fourth DUI, but a “unique” set of circumstances resulted in what Herman's family considers a slap on the wrist. Weld District Court Judge Marcelo Kopcow followed Bujanda's plea agreement on Thursday and sentenced her to four years in prison.
“I thought this day was going to bring closure and comfort, but I am so disappointed in the justice system and Colorado laws,” said Brittney Price of Dacono, Herman's sister. “In this situation, justice will not fully be served. All I can do is fight to change the laws. This is nothing short of a failure of our laws when this is her fourth DUI and she gets four years.”
Bujanda, 36, spent much of her sentencing hearing Thursday looking straight ahead as Herman's family repeatedly stated there was no justice in the system and that despite their efforts, they just could not forgive her.
Price said she knew something about DUIs. She got one herself in 2005.
“I used everything I learned (in treatment) to make sure I didn't do it again. I took something from it,” Price said of her charge. “If Ms. Bujanda (would have done) that, maybe we wouldn't be here today.”
Bujanda pleaded guilty last month to charges of driving under revocation and criminally negligent homicide, which guaranteed a lenient sentence in the eyes of family members wanting a much harsher penalty for a woman originally charged with vehicular homicide while driving under the influence.
Kopcow, while going along with the agreed-to sentence, said Bujanda had wasted her chances to cure an ongoing alcohol problem.
“This is your fourth opportunity,” he told her. “You've had four opportunities to kill someone, and this time you succeeded.”
Bujanda was originally charged with vehicular homicide, which would have put her in prison for up to 12 years. But the difficulty in this case was that Herman also had substances in her system, specifically methamphetamines, at the time of the August crash.
Back then, authorities said Bujanda had attempted a U-turn along U.S. 85 near Brighton, when Herman's car collided with Bujanda's. Herman veered off the road down a steep embankment.
Had the case gone to trial, Bujanda would have asserted that her vehicle had stalled in traffic, in which case the crash could have been conceived as Herman's fault, given she had drugs in her system.
“If she would have gotten drunk and shot my sister, it would not have mattered what Crystal had in her system,” Price said.
Attorneys weighed the potential outcomes of a jury's decision based on those factors and opted for a plea bargain instead.
“These are hard cases,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Christian Schulte, covering for deputy district attorney Brent Kelly, who was prosecuting a different vehicular homicide case this week. “I don't want anyone to think that we reached this agreement because we undervalue someone's life. We reached this agreement because of the laws ... and sometimes we have to reach a decision that's unsatisfactory to a lot involved. ... Even with the complicated factors that showed up in this case, we're not going to tolerate drinking and driving.”
Bujanda apologized, stating there was nothing she could say or do to make the situation any better.
“I wish I could go back to that day so I could make different choices and none of us would be here,” Bujanda said.
Article Source: http://www.greeleytribune.com
The August crash that resulted in the death of 32-year-old Crystal Herman was Angelica Bujanda's fourth DUI, but a “unique” set of circumstances resulted in what Herman's family considers a slap on the wrist. Weld District Court Judge Marcelo Kopcow followed Bujanda's plea agreement on Thursday and sentenced her to four years in prison.
“I thought this day was going to bring closure and comfort, but I am so disappointed in the justice system and Colorado laws,” said Brittney Price of Dacono, Herman's sister. “In this situation, justice will not fully be served. All I can do is fight to change the laws. This is nothing short of a failure of our laws when this is her fourth DUI and she gets four years.”
Bujanda, 36, spent much of her sentencing hearing Thursday looking straight ahead as Herman's family repeatedly stated there was no justice in the system and that despite their efforts, they just could not forgive her.
Price said she knew something about DUIs. She got one herself in 2005.
“I used everything I learned (in treatment) to make sure I didn't do it again. I took something from it,” Price said of her charge. “If Ms. Bujanda (would have done) that, maybe we wouldn't be here today.”
Bujanda pleaded guilty last month to charges of driving under revocation and criminally negligent homicide, which guaranteed a lenient sentence in the eyes of family members wanting a much harsher penalty for a woman originally charged with vehicular homicide while driving under the influence.
Kopcow, while going along with the agreed-to sentence, said Bujanda had wasted her chances to cure an ongoing alcohol problem.
“This is your fourth opportunity,” he told her. “You've had four opportunities to kill someone, and this time you succeeded.”
Bujanda was originally charged with vehicular homicide, which would have put her in prison for up to 12 years. But the difficulty in this case was that Herman also had substances in her system, specifically methamphetamines, at the time of the August crash.
Back then, authorities said Bujanda had attempted a U-turn along U.S. 85 near Brighton, when Herman's car collided with Bujanda's. Herman veered off the road down a steep embankment.
Had the case gone to trial, Bujanda would have asserted that her vehicle had stalled in traffic, in which case the crash could have been conceived as Herman's fault, given she had drugs in her system.
“If she would have gotten drunk and shot my sister, it would not have mattered what Crystal had in her system,” Price said.
Attorneys weighed the potential outcomes of a jury's decision based on those factors and opted for a plea bargain instead.
“These are hard cases,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Christian Schulte, covering for deputy district attorney Brent Kelly, who was prosecuting a different vehicular homicide case this week. “I don't want anyone to think that we reached this agreement because we undervalue someone's life. We reached this agreement because of the laws ... and sometimes we have to reach a decision that's unsatisfactory to a lot involved. ... Even with the complicated factors that showed up in this case, we're not going to tolerate drinking and driving.”
Bujanda apologized, stating there was nothing she could say or do to make the situation any better.
“I wish I could go back to that day so I could make different choices and none of us would be here,” Bujanda said.
Article Source: http://www.greeleytribune.com