Trucker pleads no contest in traffic-stop rest Saturday, January 28, 2006
How Did I Miss This OneIt's a long article, but it has a lot of interesting stuff - some of which I actually agree with. Like the author, I see the...
THE buttOCIATED PRESS ALLEGAN -- A truck driver who hid his progressive multiple sclerosis to keep his job has pleaded no contest to vehicular homicide in a fiery crash that end an Alma College graduate whom police had pulled over for a speeding violation.
David Gale, 43, of Ada, Ohio, entered the plea this week during a hearing in Allegan County Circuit Court.
In Michigan, a no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but the judge treats it the same at sentencing. Gale faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Friday.
Early June 23, 2004, Allegan County Sheriff's Deputy Jon Bender pulled over Emily Van Dyke's vehicle on Interstate 196 near Holland, about a mile south of where U.S. 31 merges with the freeway. Moments later, Gale's truck plowed into the back of the police cruiser, then rolled over Van Dyke's car and dragged it into a ditch, where both caught fire.
The collision end Van Dyke, 22, of Saugatuck. She recently had graduated from Alma College and was preparing to start teaching at a North Carolina elementary school.
Gale and the deputy suffered minor injuries.
Gale initially told investigators he had fallen asleep behind the wheel of his rig. Police and prosecutors later discovered that he has multiple sclerosis.
Medical records show Gale was diagnosed with the disease March 8, 2004, but did not disclose the diagnosis two months later when he sought to renew his commercial driver's license.
He also persuaded a doctor in his hometown to sign a certificate stating he is qualified for a commercial license, prosecutors said.
Gale, who was strapped into a wheelchair during his plea hearing, said he had stopped taking his multiple sclerosis medication before the crash.
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So he kills someone and he faces 15 years MAXIMUM!!?? That should be the minimum but then, this is criminal coddler america.
