The drunk cop who killed two people (Chicago, Time: estate, car)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by EyesInTheSky

Just an anecdote related to this thread: Last December 2008 in Champaign County there was a 53-year old chemist named Elizabeth Drewes that was driving drunk and she killed a 24-year old woman on a local stretch of interstate highway. Drewes was driving the wrong way (westbound in the eastbound lanes). Drewes had no previous criminal record (although she did have a pending DUI charge with no injuries from September 2008). Her bond was set at $5 million, which is 10 times the bond of this Chicago cop.

I heard about this. My wife used to teach downstate, both the victim and her fiance were former students of hers. Sucks. However, this does not demonstrate that the Chicago cop is getting preferential treatment; it may be that Drewes got unusually harsh treatment. Two data points is insufficient to determine which is the case. Also conisder that Drewes already had another DUI charge pending against her when she killed her victim. That probably factored in her bond.

[meatpuff]

Originally Posted by Drover

I heard about this. My wife used to teach downstate, both the victim and her fiance were former students of hers. Sucks. However, this does not demonstrate that the Chicago cop is getting preferential treatment; it may be that Drewes got unusually harsh treatment. Two data points is insufficient to determine which is the case. Also conisder that Drewes already had another DUI charge pending against her when she killed her victim. That probably factored in her bond.

I have no idea what usually or should be a factor in setting bond, but two factors listed in the C-U paper were that Drewes was pretty financially well-off, as well as her being a threat to the community with the quick succession of the two DUIs.

There was another story on this last week in the paper with Drewes' plea. FWIW, she didn't post bond and has been jail since the December incident.

[J double R]

I'd have a drinking problem if i had to deal with the Chicago population too....

[ERS-One]

^^^Buh dum bum chiiinng!! Take my wife, please.....

[EyesInTheSky]

Originally Posted by Drover

I heard about this. My wife used to teach downstate, both the victim and her fiance were former students of hers. Sucks. However, this does not demonstrate that the Chicago cop is getting preferential treatment; it may be that Drewes got unusually harsh treatment. Two data points is insufficient to determine which is the case. Also conisder that Drewes already had another DUI charge pending against her when she killed her victim. That probably factored in her bond.

Your wife taught these kids? Wow, what a small world Drover! My only connection to them is one of the admin assistants in my research group is neighbors with the parents of Miss Babb, the 24-year old that Drewes killed. She was from a small town and from what I heard the whole town was devastated and practically all of them attended her funeral.

Regarding the comparison of the bond in the Drewes case to the Chicago cop case that is the topic of this thread, I agree with you that they really can't be directly compared. I presented the Drewes case really as nothing more than an anecdote. DUI enforcement in Champaign County is insanely strict and I'm sure typical DUI bonds and conviction rates are much higher here than in Cook County. I have a couple of acquaintances in the legal community and they've told me this is the only county in the State of Illinois that generally refuses to allow court supervision for a first offense DUI with no injuries. The major exception is if you're a cop.

For example, back in December there was a Champaign police detective named Lisa Staples that was arrested for DUI while driving the wrong way in an unmarked squad car on an interstate highway just outside of Champaign, and she only received court supervision. Court supervision means the charge is dismissed and there is no criminal record, provided the terms of the supervision are satisfied. Many of the local DUI defense lawyers were very publicly upset at this obvious double standard for the cops. Ironically, Lisa Staples had her plea agreement accepted and finalized by the court only a few hours before Miss Babb was killed by Drewes.

[faith1522]

This is to west lawn kid,
I live in Missouri and what makes it so bad is that cops yes maybe very much human as we are but with their given job they are paid to keep people safe from harm not inflict it purposly and that is what this cop did he made a bad choice to drink and made an even worse choice to drive while being drunk so when you knowingly do something like that and then something happens I think that person should be punished.
Lets take for example you have a surgeon that is getting ready to do major surgry on a patient and he comes in drunk or high and begins to work on this patient and instead of putting the scapel where it needs to be he slices open a major artery and the patient bleeds to death and dies. Is that reason for not putting this man behind bars. If his mind wasn't altered by the drugs and him being drunk he would have had a clear mind to make quick and percise decisions and do the surgery right, but because of a deliberated choice he made to get drunk and high he cost someone their life and let me go a step further what if that had been your family member?
So I think that is why people feel like this cop got off on a cheaper bail and that he does need to go to jail.
Obviously he hasn't learned his leason if this is his 3rd time and finally because the unit sweept it under the rug the other two times this last time cost someone their life and a mother and father lost a child and a brother and sister lost a sibling. So I think you need to think about everything as a whole and I feel like he should go to jail for many many years and that will give him some time to think about what he did and how many lives he affected by him drinking and driving.

[ChiMack]

another one

Off-duty police officer kills boy in South Side hit-and-run :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Chicago Crime (http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1587282,off-duty-cop-hit-and-run-kills-boy-052209.article - broken link)

[Huckleberry3911948]

why always hot news moral outrage when a cop does something but drunks kill people right and left here, its oaky doaky.

[ChiMack]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

why always hot news moral outrage when a cop does something but drunks kill people right and left here, its oaky doaky.

for me its not okay but if you are a cop you are held to a higher standard

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

why always hot news moral outrage when a cop does something but drunks kill people right and left here, its oaky doaky.

The moral outrage of cops committing felonies should be obvious, even if not necessarily merited in instances that don't involve official corruption. And I'd really like to see one example of anyone saying "drunks kill people left and right" is "oaky-doaky."