Sentence cut for driver who killed 3 in Jefferson crash
A state Superior Court judge in Morristown has taken the unusual step of reducing a 20-year sentence he imposed in June on a drunken driver who caused three passenger deaths in Jefferson, saying he was "emotionally swayed" at sentencing time by victims' statements and meant to give a 15-year stint.
"Reflecting upon it, I said to myself 'Well, did I let, perhaps, my emotions get in the way?'' Judge James DeMarzo said on Sept. 21 in Morristown, in amending from 20 to 15 years the sentence he gave Luis E. Torres, 39, on June 26.
The Daily Record on Thursday listened to the tape of the 45-minute proceeding, which occurred because defense lawyer Arthur Abrams filed a motion for reconsideration of sentence and was strongly opposed by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.
DeMarzo, a Superior Court judge since 2010 and a judge in the criminal division for 14 months, said on Sept. 21 that he intended on June 26 to give Torres a 15 year sentence but opted for 20 years because he was swayed by words from Lance Booth, a father whose only child was killed when the van Torres was driving on Route 15 in Jefferson flipped over.
The judge said he regretted his 20-year sentence, imposed while at least 25 friends and relatives of the victims were present, after the hearing ended in June. Some victims were sympathetic to Torres and asked for mercy, others said he deserved as much time behind bars as possible. Booth was present at the Sept. 21 hearing but other relatives were not. Many did not want to endure such a proceeding a second time, Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn told the judge.
"How is society going to be served better by those additional five years?" DeMarzo said in reducing the sentence. "Does vengeance creep into the mix there? Not that a 20-year sentence isn't justified, but it may be ... too heavy."
DeMarzo said he pondered how Torres' wife had lost her mother and daughter in the crash and how Torres -- who has to serve 85 percent of his sentence before parole eligibility -- will have to start a new life in his 50s when he's released from prison . The judge said he also believed that a 20-year sentence for Torres would be equivalent to terms given to defendants who purposely and knowingly assault or kill someone.
"I don't particularly have a boatload of sympathy for Mr. Torres. He went out there, committed an act," the judge said. "But it's very difficult for the court to lump him in with someone who goes out and stabs or kills someone, you know, in a violent crime."
Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn, who was not the assistant prosecutor at the time a plea bargain calling for a sentence of up to 20 years was negotiated for Torres, filed a brief in opposition to the reduction. Schellhorn also told the judge on Sept. 21 that perhaps he wasn't "swayed by emotion" but was imposing a fair sentence for the deaths of three people on Aug. 24, 2013.
Schellhorn had objected to a reduction on a sentence imposed three months earlier. The 20-year sentence called for 85 percent of the stint to be served before parole consideration, or 17 years. The new sentence imposed on Sept. 21 by DeMarzo also requires that 85 percent be served, or close to 13 years, before parole consideration.
"The defendant has failed to present this court with any new or additional information not available or known at the time this court initially imposed sentence," Schellhorn wrote the court.
"To reduce the defendant's sentence under these circumstances is to minimalize the extent of the defendant's choices on August 24, 2013, and to marginalize the death of at least one victim. No reduction of sentence is warranted," Schellhorn wrote.
Schellhorn's brief reminded the judge of case law that asserts "no free crimes," and said a shorter sentence than 20 years would amount to Torres receiving a pass on a crime. Without a plea bargain, he technically faced more than 100 years behind bars.
Torres, of Jersey City, had pleaded guilty in March to one count of aggravated manslaughter, two counts of vehicular homicide, several counts of assault by auto, and the motor vehicle offense of driving while intoxicated. The Prosecutor's Office had recommended Torres receive 10 years for one death and two, consecutive five-year terms for the other two deaths. Sentences on the assault-by-auto counts were run concurrently to the other counts.
DeMarzo said on tape that he would have revisited the sentence on his own and lowered it if Abrams, the defense lawyer, had not filed a motion.
"It is a troubling fact pattern, it has had a horrendous impact on so many people," DeMarzo said.
Morris County has multiple other pending vehicular homicide cases, including that of Vanessa Brown, charged with causing one death; Bhavuk Uppal, charged with causing three deaths; and Jose Almanzar, charged with causing the death of a passenger and serious injuries to two others.
In Torres' case, a large gathering of family and friends spent the day at Tomahawk Lake in Sparta, where many adults, including Torres, drank alcohol. One driver had to leave early so Torres agreed to transport eight other people back to Jersey City even though his Ford Explorer did not have enough seat belts.
On Route 15, Torres lost control of the Explorer as he tried to pass another car, and the vehicle rolled over several times, ejecting unrestrained passengers out the windows.
Torres' fiancee, whom he has since married, lost her mother, Lucila Colon, 62, and her daughter, Tevia Booth, 11. One 5-year-old girl was ejected but miraculously survived without debilitating injuries; she was found on the front steps of a house alongside Route 15.
Tests showed that Torres had a blood-alcohol level of 0.24 percent, or triple the level at which a person is considered legally intoxicated in New Jersey. He also had acknowledged that he was driving too fast.
Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.