Monday, April 13, 2009

rot in jail, asshole

Bail was increased to $2 million for Andrew Gallo, the guy who killed Angels' pitcher Nick Adenhart and two other people in the same car. The fourth person in the car is currently in serious condition.

Gallo was driving with a suspended license and with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit. He had previously pled guilty to drunken driving in 2006.

Gallo is charged with three counts of murder, drunk driving and fleeing the scene of a crash.

I'm hoping that the $2 million bail will mean that he doesn't get out before his trial date. Frankly, I don't know why they're even offering him bail, in any amount. He has already proven that taking away his license means nothing, and letting him back on the street again means that he's going to kill more people.

His lawyer says that he's devastated by what happened and that he's distraught, which is why he was in tears in court.

Really. And how devastated do you think Nick Adenhart's parents and other family and friends are? How distraught do you think the family and friends of Courtney Stewart are? How many tears do you think have been shed and will be shed by the family and friends of Henry Pearson? How do you think the family and friends of Jon Wilhite have felt over the past week, as he's been in surgery and still in the hospital, hoping and praying that he recovers? And who is going to take away the pain from Wilhite, who for the rest of his life will have to live with what happened that night?

So Gallo is sorry. Yeah, so what if he is? Even if he is really and truly sorry - what is that going to do for Nick Adenhart or Courtney Stewart or Henry Pearson or Jon Wilhite? Was Gallo not sorry when he pled guilty to drunk driving last time? So this time, after he's killed three people, injured a fourth, and forever changed the lives of countless others connected to the four people in that car, oh, now he's learned his lesson, he promises to never do that again, so just shake a finger at him and then let him go?

No, Mr. Lawyer for Gallo - it wasn't a terrible accident. It was terrible all right, but in no way was it an accident. You are scum for trying to characterize it that way. An accident is something that just happens, that has no way of being prevented, a fluke. This wasn't a fluke. Gallo knew he had a problem with drinking and driving. He'd already pled guilty to it. Not been *found* guilty - PLED guilty. He admitted it. And then he just kept doing it. Exactly how much did he have to drink to have THREE TIMES the legal limit? I know that alcoholism is not something easily controlled. But he was given a chance. And the price for that chance he was given are the very lives of three people who will never see another day, and the life of a fourth whose life will never be the same.

Mr. Gallo, if you are truly sorry for what happened, then be a man and take the punishment you deserve. Don't shirk your responsibility yet again. You already did that when you decided to not complete the terms of your sentencing from your previous case, when you decided to drink enough to have three times the legal driving limit of alcohol in your blood, and when you decided to get in the van and drive. There are consequences to actions, no matter what the actions. There are consequences to YOUR actions. You've already taken the lives of Nick and Courtney and Henry and taken so much from Jon. Now you need to take the consequences of what you did.

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