Rosen Assumes Responsibility

The posting of 8 November 2009 mentions the incident of 7 November 2008 involving a high and soused SUV driver who ran down a pair of joggers, killing one and seriously injuring the other. The surviving jogger, Vincent Saunders, had recovered sufficiently to do a run along the jogging route in memory of Amanda Malloy, his running partner who was killed in the incident.

The driver, Shea Rosen, has pleaded guilty to 2nd degree vehicular manslaughter and 1st degree vehicular assault. He could have faced 2 1/3 to 7 years if convicted, but his attorney has worked out a plea deal for 1 1/3 to 4 years. Rosen will be sentenced in September.

Amanda's mom, who was in the courtroom to witness the guilty plea, had no comments to give the members of the press, but the DA's spokesman indicated that she and other members of Amanda's family acquiesced to the deal in order "to avoid the trauma of a trial."

If full justice for Amanda Malloy and Vincent Saunders were the sole criterion, Rosen would serve the full 7 years of cold, hard jail time he so rightly deserves. But circumstances are not ideal. Without being judgmental, I note that Amanda and Vincent were more than just "jogging partners." Amanda was apparently trying to resolve, one way or the other, a marriage that existed on paper only, and Vincent was apparently the third point of the triangle.

The way I call it, that fact played into Amanda's family's aversion to "the trauma of a trial." The matter of Amanda's personal relationships would not have affected the outcome of a trial, or any sentence (the evidence against Rosen was quite overwhelming), and, more likely than not, would not even have been mentioned at trial. But Amanda's saga with her estranged husband has probably taken its toll on Amanda's family over the years. The plea deal enables them to move forward without adding too much more to the trauma they already have undergone, knowing that Shea Rosen will be paying something in the way of prison time for his irresponsible crime. My congrats to Mike Soshnick, Rosen's attorney, who, in all likelihood, recognized this situation and used it to negotiate a good deal for his client.

In addition to the reduced sentence, Shea Rosen receives another benefit from the plea deal. For at least 16 months, his facilitative parents will not be able to continue coddling him, and he will have to learn to man up and take responsibility for his actions, irrespective of any trust funds his parents may provide or have provided for him. This benefit would inure not only to Rosen, but to society as a whole. If Rosen plays his cards right, he can become successfully rehabilitated.

And so, under the circumstances, the deal was a good one for all parties and for society. Unfortunately, it cannot bring back Amanda Malloy