Aimee Michael (pictured left), for the most part, seems to be a lot like the rest of us. She's a 24-year-old black femalecollege graduate with two parents who love her. Her parents have beenmarried for 28 years, and her mother is a 52-year-old former schoolteacher. On Easter Sunday in 2009, though, Aimee found herself facing upto 50 years in prison. While she didn't get the entire 50 years, she did get 36 of them.
Aimee Michael was the cause of a massive car accident in Atlanta, achain reaction that caused the deaths of five people, including anewborn baby, a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old. After being sideswiped byanother car, Michael's BMW hit another car, causing it to collidehead-on with another vehicle. Michael is going to prison, because aftercausing this terrible accident, she fled the scene and tried to cover upthe evidence.
Aimee Michael's mother, Sheila (pictured right), wasgiven eight years in prison for her role in the cover up. This has leftthe Michael family devastated, but not nearly as much as the families ofthe victims.
"I want to say that I am wrong. I have wronged three families and for that I am sorry," Michael said in court.
Michael was arrested two weeks after the accident, when neighbors calledthe police. She was found guilty on five counts of vehicular homicide,six counts of hit and run and several misdemeanors.
The judge was actually brought to tears and said she prayed about thedecision before rendering the sentence. The deciding factor in the crashwas the fact that Michael left the scene of the accident. She alsoexpressed disappointment in Michael's mother for not turning herdaughter in to the police.
When it comes to the sentencing of Aimee Michael, I'm going to have tokeep it real: Based on what I've read about Aimee and her family, it appears that much of this could have happened to any of us.While most of us would not have left the scene of the accident, I can'thelp but imagine Aimee as a frightened 24-year-old young adult who didsomething incredibly stupid.
Also, while we can easily criticize Aimee's mother for protecting herdaughter, I am willing to bet that at least half the people reading thisarticle may at least consider doing the same thing if it meant keepingtheir child from prison. This does not, in any way, condone Aimee'sactions (or those of her mother), but it does highlight the difficultyof the decisions that this family had to make.
Aimee's attorney made a very good point. She said that we shouldconsider what the sentence would have been had Aimee not left the scene:
"What Sheila Michael did was driven by fear and attempt to protect her child," said Renee Rockwell,Aimee's attorney. "It was the worst move she could have made. If AimeeMichael had gone back to the scene, we would be talking about six to 12months at most."
Personally, I see the accident as the thing that it was: an accident.She was side-swiped and hit another car. Given that's the case, I am notsure if a long prison sentence would be appropriate. But one thing thatmust be considered is that Aimee Michael has been cited numerous timesfor driving too fast. In the state of Pennsylvania, she received severalspeeding tickets within a very short amount of time. She is also knownto be someone who regularly smokes marijuana and there was even a"marijuana cigar" found in the car during the police investigation. Thisinformation tells us clearly that Aimee, like many young people acrossAmerica is both reckless and inconsiderate in her personal choices. Inspite of her shameful behavior, I can't help but feel that 36-years inprison is simply too long of a sentence.
On a secondary note, there is no doubt in my mind that Aimee Michael andher mother deserve to go to prison. My heart dropped to the ground whenreading about the three young children killed in this accident. I alsomourn for the families of all of the victims. This story serves as acautionary tale to all of the kids across America who think it's cute orcool to speed down the highway or to get involved in drugs. You mightthink you're having harmless fun, but you could end up ruining the livesof yourself, strangers and people you care about. When Aimee Michaelshowed up to her mother's house after getting involved in this accident,she instantly destroyed her family. Should it be the case that she wasdriving irresponsibly, the guilt of this experience will be with herforever.
The fact that Aimee and her mother were so selfish as to ignore thesuffering of these families by attempting to hide their involvement issimply sickening. With that said, I will also say that 5 - 10 years inprison for Aimee might have been a more reasonable sentence. I don'tagree with 36 years in prison, and I sincerely doubt she would havegotten this much time if she were Paris Hilton or someone from an affluent Georgia family.
On that note, this is an incredibly painful story to read, and I wishthe families the best. The sadness of this tragedy resonates through allof our psyches, and we can learn quite a few lessons about vehiclesafety and doing the right thing. When you get behind the wheel, pleasebe careful. Driving is an important responsibility.
By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Nov 4th 2010 9:41PM
Extracted from Blackvoices.com
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