News-Record.com

Daniel Carrington Tanner almost certainly would have received a longer prison sentence under the state's new felony death by vehicle law.

As Amy Dominello reported, Tanner pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.

His sentence on the first charge was 20 to 24 months in prison; on the second, 31 to 47 months. The terms will run consecutively: 51 to 71 months in all.

Tanner, 22 of High Point, was driving under the influence of alcohol on March 18, 2006 on U.S. 421 in Guilford County. His vehicle struck a car driven by Alex Christopher Stevenson, killing the 22-year-old Greensboro man. A passenger in Stevenson's car, Tori Finch of High Point, was injured.

You might have noticed above that the assault charge carried a longer sentence than the manslaughter conviction.

Tanner received "more time for assaulting Miss Finch than for killing Mr. Stevenson," Assistant Guilford DA Chris Parrish told me this morning. Parrish prosecuted the case.

Too late for this case, a new law passed last summer changes that puzzling oddity.

Felony death by vehicle is a Class E felony, the same as assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. It carries the same sentence of 31 to 47 months. If it had been in effect at the time of Tanner's crime, he could have been charged with that offense and, if convicted, given a total of 62 to 94 months instead of 51 to 71 months -- an addition of 11 to 23 months.

Furthermore, the new law is perfectly clear in its requirements. It applies to a driver who 1) is intoxicated as defined by law; and 2) kills someone. The law defines intoxicated as having a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 or higher. It's open-and-shut.

Tanner originally was charged with second-degree murder. The fact is, juries in North Carolina have been reluctant to convict on that charge, which can be confusing. For one thing, Parrish said, it requires a jury to find that the defendant was "deliberately bent on mischief. Now, what the hell does that mean?"

The difficulty of convicting drunken-drivers on murder charges led the legislature to craft a new law. Prosecutors welcome it, both for its tougher penalties and for its simplicity.

It comes along in time to apply to the Tolly Carr case. Carr has been charged only with DWI to this point, but his blood test results have not come back yet. If they show a level of 0.08 or higher, I expect he will be charged with felony death by vehicle. Given the necessary two facts in that scenario -- intoxication under the legal standard, and the death of pedestrian Casey Ryan Bokhoven caused by Carr's driving -- it seems to me the defense would have very little room to maneuver. Maybe none.

The new law is a vast improvement. It allows consistency in the handling of these cases, treats them as serious felonies, and makes it easy for juries to focus on the essential facts and render the proper verdict.