http://www.sacbee.co...ory/119788.htmlPair in alleged racing death sent home until trial
By Hudson Sangree - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1
A judge on Tuesday allowed two teenage drivers accused of street racing and killing veteran teacher Susan McNew in Folsom last month to return to their homes and high school under strict conditions.
Sacramento juvenile court Judge Jane Ure agreed with prosecutors that the boys did not represent a danger to society as long as they do not drive. She said the accident investigation will take several months.
The pair must turn in their licenses, wear electronic-monitoring ankle bracelets and travel only between home and school.
"I don't want any violations, because that will mean coming back into the (juvenile) hall," Ure said.
Meanwhile, the assemblyman who represents McNew's district has introduced legislation to allow minors who kill during a street race to be prosecuted more easily as adults.
In this case, both teenagers are being prosecuted as juveniles, and their names are protected by the court because they are minors.
Prosecutors charged both teens with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
If found guilty, they face a maximum penalty of less than four years in a juvenile facility and would be released when they turn 21.
To charge the teens as adults, prosecutors would have had to seek a judge's ruling after a potentially lengthy hearing process and months of delays.
The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office said in a statement that juvenile charges were "the most appropriate based on the facts in this case."
Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, who introduced the bill, said he thinks it should be easier to charge street racers who kill as adults.
One of Gaines' bills, AB 247, would add vehicular manslaughter committed during a street race to the list of crimes for which prosecutors can directly file adult charges against teenagers.
"It seems to me there's a loophole in the law," Gaines said. "Something as heinous as the death of someone while teenagers are street racing should be handled in a much more serious way."
Gaines represents the district that includes Shingle Springs, where McNew, 53, lived with her husband, Dawson McNew, and raised two children, Tim, 23, and Kelly, 20. The district also includes Cameron Park, where McNew taught second-graders at Blue Oak Elementary School.
She died Jan. 13 during a Saturday afternoon shopping trip to the Folsom Premium Outlets when a 17-year-old driver in a Dodge Stealth slammed into the side of her Toyota Solara as she exited the shopping center parking lot onto Iron Point Road.
Police allege the driver and another 17-year-old in a BMW 5-series were street racing at speeds well over the 45 mph limit. The Stealth left 166 feet of locked-brake skid marks before the crash, according to Folsom police.
Both of the drivers are seniors at Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks. About two dozen supporters, many of them teenagers, turned out for Tuesday's hearing.
After court, a lawyer for the driver accused of striking McNew's car said his client insists his actions have been wrongly portrayed. "He adamantly denies they were street racing," attorney Kevin Adamson said. He also said the boy feels remorse for McNew's death. "At some point he wants to talk to the husband," Adamson said. "He said he prays for her every night."
Adamson said the teen comes from modest circumstances and is a hard worker. He had a copy of the boy's school record, which showed he received almost all A's, with a few B's, last year in 11th grade.
Michael Cardoza, a Bay Area attorney for the other teenager, whose car did not strike McNew's, said that boy had bought and paid for the 1992 BMW himself by working two jobs.
Lynne Rominger, an English teacher at Bella Vista who had the BMW driver in her advanced composition class, called him a "good kid" who is concerned about others.
"He's a respectful, kind, hardworking, diligent young man with a very good heart," she said.
The teenagers are next scheduled to appear in court on April 20.
About the writer:
A VETERAN
Whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount "up to and including their life".
That is HONOR, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.
-Author unknown-
