A Quebec man convicted of killing another driver and injuring two teenagers while texting at the wheel has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Martin Carrieres, 39, had exchanged more than 30 text messages while driving on a poorly lit road in March 2012.
This case is all about general deterence. It’s a sentencing principal the judge used for Mr Carrieres.
General deterrence can be defined as the impact of the threat of legal punishment on the public at large. Specific deterrence can be seen as the impact of the actual legal punishment on those who committed the offence.
Quebec court judge Maria Albanese said she wanted her sentence "to send a clear message to the public."
Many people are texting and and not getting the message through increases fines, road side suspensions and demerit points. The courts are basically saying, if someone dies and you were driving and using a phone, your going to get a long jail sentence.
An experienced criminal defence lawyer can challenge the nature of the evidence by casting reasonable doubt as to how accurate the timings of the messages were and if there were any other related factors such as if the victim played a role. A criminal lawyer need not prove you are innocent but only needs to show there is some reasonable doubt as to the cause of the accident.
Comments