# Father and son lose legs in crash; crack-smoking woman responsible gets off easy **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 26, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781 "2007-04-26T20:54:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/1 "2007-04-26T20:54:18Z")
A woman who was driving with her son while high on crack was sentenced to 3 years for crashing into a father and his son, severing each of their legs. From yesterday’s Washington Post: [3-Year Term Given in Crash That Maimed Man, Son](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042402088.html) To summarize, John Clayton Dick Jr., 40, and his 12-year-old son, Tyler, were changing a tire on the side of the road. Then along came Jody Renee Hudson, 38, who was driving with her 9-year-old son. She was going about 66 mph when she plowed into the victims. Both the dad and the son had one of their legs severed. From the Post article: > [@](#): > > Dick later said he had not known what occurred until he saw his right leg lying in the road; his son’s left leg also was severed, prosecutors said. > > Prosecutors said in a statement that police recovered “a crack pipe with residue in it from the Defendant’s purse in her car.” Prosecutors said toxicology tests found a cocaine metabolite in Hudson’s blood, as well as methadone she was taking as part of a drug treatment program. > > Dick, his wife and Tyler, the youngest of the family’s three children, read emotional statements detailing the accident’s devastating effect on their lives. Both victims have endured grueling rehabilitation. > > Dick, an engineer with a communications company, tearfully read a statement saying that Hudson’s “drug-induced recklessness has ruined a perfect family not only physically but mentally and financially.” > > He described his son as an honor student with many friends who enjoyed fishing, motorcycle riding and bicycle riding. > > “If you only heard the pain . . . screams that come from Tyler on a daily basis, it would frighten even the most stable individual,” Dick said. > > In a statement, Tyler said that “because of Jody Renee Hudson, every day I live my life suffering in some way.” He said that “no jail time is enough for what she did to my family.” I’m sorry, but that woman needs to be locked away for more than 3 years for what she did. What she did was so reckless and should be considered attempted murder. That little boy will be living in pain with one leg for the rest of his life, while in 3 years, that woman will be back out on the street smoking crack again. I’d bet any amount of money that she’ll be back on the pipe when she gets out. She is a danger to society. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/2 "2007-04-26T21:04:47Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] Thoughts? [/QUOTE] you’ve got a lot of time on your hands today? (ie, two pit threads screeching about ‘oh the humanity, oh the injustice of it all’ based on articles from the Washington Post) Did you read the article? I mean other than to simply react to the headline. According to the article, she **faced** four years, got three plus 5 years post release supervision (they call it probation) during which she’ll have to pay restitution (admittedly no amount of $$ can make them whole again). > [@](#): > > But Judge Joseph P. Manck agreed with a request by the state’s attorney’s office to suspend a year so that Hudson could be placed on probation for five years, during which she must pay the Dick family $150 a month in restitution. So the judge did what the **prosecutors** wanted him to do. You got a gripe about the amount of time, talk to the legislators, they’re the ones to set the sentencing possabilities. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/3 "2007-04-26T21:09:35Z")
_::shrug::_ If you add in the prosecution’s request that one year of the 4 yr max be suspended in order to have her also serve five years probation and pay monthly restitution to the family, then she pretty much got the maximum sentence. Yeah, it’s a tragedy, but I just can’t see the outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/4 "2007-04-26T21:15:38Z")
[QUOTE=A Monkey With a Gun] _::shrug::_ If you add in the prosecution’s request that one year of the 4 yr max be suspended in order to have her also serve five years probation and pay monthly restitution to the family, then she pretty much got the maximum sentence. Yeah, it’s a tragedy, but I just can’t see the outrage. [/QUOTE] Yes she got the max. But I think this is a special case in which the max is not enough. In cases like this where the offense is so reckless, the judge should be able to provide a sentence that fits the crime. As for the restitution - yeah, like she’ll be able to afford to pay them anything. They’ll never see any more than a few bucks for their loss. That’s a joke. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/5 "2007-04-26T21:18:49Z")
You did read the part about her also being in a wheelchair because of the crash? It’s not like her life is going to be the same either. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/6 "2007-04-26T21:23:33Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] Yes she got the max. But I think this is a special case in which the max is not enough. In cases like this where the offense is so reckless, the judge should be able to provide a sentence that fits the crime. . [/QUOTE] are you **really** suggesting that there exists (or should) somewhere, somehow a mechanism by which a judge is allowed to simply toss out the rules of law and say “no, the max is not enough in this case, they should get more”??? do you know **anything** about how the law works? ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/7 "2007-04-26T21:26:33Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] As for the restitution - yeah, like she’ll be able to afford to pay them anything. They’ll never see any more than a few bucks for their loss. That’s a joke. [/QUOTE] You think they should sue? AFAICT, they don’t have a leg to stand on. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/8 "2007-04-26T21:32:44Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] But I think this is a special case in which the max is not enough. In cases like this where the offense is so reckless, the judge should be able to provide a sentence that fits the crime. [/QUOTE] This is, quite possibly, one of the most heinously ignorant statements I have ever read on this board. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/9 "2007-04-26T21:34:39Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] Yes she got the max. But I think this is a special case in which the max is not enough. In cases like this where the offense is so reckless, the judge should be able to provide a sentence that fits the crime. [/QUOTE] We used to have something like that in this country. It was called lynching. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/10 "2007-04-26T21:37:26Z")
[QUOTE=treis] You did read the part about her also being in a wheelchair because of the crash? It’s not like her life is going to be the same either. [/QUOTE] In all honesty, that doesn’t matter even one little bit to me, other than the fact that she’ll probably claim she can’t work and get on welfare to avoid having to pay anything to her victims. She is responsible for her own injuries. Too bad, she got hurt cutting the legs off of two people. Boo fucking hoo. For his sake I’m glad her son wasn’t injured (at least it wasn’t mentioned in the article) but the stupid bitch shouldn’t have been smoking crack and driving around with the kid in the car anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/11 "2007-04-26T21:40:04Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] You think they should sue? AFAICT, they don’t have a leg to stand on. [/QUOTE] You are an evil man! ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/12 "2007-04-26T21:52:47Z")
[QUOTE=SnakesCatLady] In all honesty, that doesn’t matter even one little bit to me, other than the fact that she’ll probably claim she can’t work and get on welfare to avoid having to pay anything to her victims. She is responsible for her own injuries. Too bad, she got hurt cutting the legs off of two people. Boo fucking hoo. For his sake I’m glad her son wasn’t injured (at least it wasn’t mentioned in the article) but the stupid bitch shouldn’t have been smoking crack and driving around with the kid in the car anyway. [/QUOTE] Whatever, but being confined to a wheel chair is not getting off easy. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/13 "2007-04-26T22:09:11Z")
From the article: > [@](#): > > Hudson, who has a history of drug offenses, faced up to four years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of causing a life-threatening injury while impaired by a controlled dangerous substance. But Judge Joseph P. Manck agreed with a request by the state’s attorney’s office to suspend a year so that Hudson could be placed on probation for five years, during which she must pay the Dick family $150 a month in restitution. Anyone know if that’s the same as drunk driving, or is “impaired by a controlled substance” different? I’m just curious if Crack Smoking Methadone Woman would have gotten a different sentence if she’d been drunk. Also, $150/month for five years doesn’t sound like much. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/14 "2007-04-26T22:22:38Z")
[QUOTE=Eonwe] You are an evil man! [/QUOTE] Sinister, even. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/15 "2007-04-26T22:30:00Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] This is, quite possibly, one of the most heinously ignorant statements I have ever read on this board. [/QUOTE] Well I feel the same way about mandatory minimums too. It’s all been discussed to death here and everywhere, so I am not the only one who feels that justice should not be run in a one-size-fits-all manner. IMO, that stance is not “heinously ignorant.” What _is_ ignorant, however, is to take all discretion away from judges… if we do, we might as well just have robots for judges. Anyway my main point is that this woman is most likely still going to be an imminent danger to society when she gets out of jail. Chances are, these are not the last people she will hurt. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/16 "2007-04-26T22:43:11Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] You think they should sue? AFAICT, they don’t have a leg to stand on. [/QUOTE] What? Yes they do. I believe they still have one leg each. Nice try. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/17 "2007-04-26T22:50:49Z")
[QUOTE=MrSquishy] Nice try. [/QUOTE] I thought it was pretty good. Seeing as how it has prompted four responses so far, I’d even go so far as to say that **Weirddave’s** little joke has legs. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/18 "2007-04-26T23:13:46Z")
AH! For Victor Frankenstein’s wisdom. Then, each victim would _again_ have 2 legs, & the perp…?.._none._ ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/19 "2007-04-26T23:48:27Z")
[QUOTE=A Monkey With a Gun] I’d even go so far as to say that **Weirddave’s** little joke has legs. [/QUOTE] Uh oh, there is a punfest afoot. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781/20 "2007-04-26T23:54:18Z")
**nyctea scandiaca** , you’re not running for Judge anytime soon are you? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-and-son-lose-legs-in-crash-crack-smoking-woman-responsible-gets-off-easy/401781.md?page=2)