Five-year sentence in hit-and-run: had perp stayed at scene could have gotten 50 years

[The Straight Story]

Five-year sentence in hit-and-run

Scott Ruffcorn got his reward Thursday for fleeing the scene of a February crash that left a man dead and another man seriously injured.

Five years in prison.

Ruffcorn, a serial drunken driver, could have faced 50 years in prison had he stayed at the scene — and had police determined that he had committed motor vehicle homicide by drunken driving.

But the man with multiple drunken driving convictions and a suspended driver's license took off and was not arrested in time for police to determine whether he was drunk.

Hence, his maximum sentence for fleeing the scene of a crash: five years in prison.

http://omaha.com/article/20100429/NEWS97/100429447

[trumad]

1. Smart move...

[dmallind]

2. ...the law of unintended consequences strikes again.... NT

[closeupready]

3. Could have gotten 50 years - if authorities could show he was drunk.

He probably could have gotten life if authorities could show he did this soberly and deliberately.

Since they could not, he got five years. That's how the Western system of justice works. Innocent until proven guilty.

[gratuitous]

4. The lessons of the Bush years have been taken to America's heart

Would you rather be hauled into court to answer a charge of destroying evidence (relatively minor) or for crimes against humanity (a LOT more serious)? I hope Mr. Ruffcorn puts his time in the jug to some good use, and quits driving while impaired.

[PCIntern]

5. A patient of mine did that years ago...

hit a pregnant woman stopped in her broken-down car on the Walt Whitman Bridge approach - killed mother and late-term fetus...left the scene drunk as a skunk...got out after 7+ years. MITIGATING CIRCIMSTANCE BELIEVE IT OR NOT: State Police car had stopped to help her, and then left to do something else...a violation of the rules.