Fatal Crash Spurs Renewed Call For Tougher DUI Laws

The article below was printed in the Thursday, March 14, 2007 edition of the Standard Times.

Fatal Crash Spurs Renewed Call For Tougher DUI Laws
By George Brennan Cape Cod Times

FALMOUTH - A family still grieving for a beloved mother and grandmother is calling on the state to get tougher on repeat drinken drivers.

Diane (Kelsey) Carhart, 63, of Forestdale was killed March 5 in a three-car crash on Route 130.

Christopher G. Parker, 50, the man police say caused the crash, was driving without a license. It was revoked after he was charged in October with driving under the influence of drugs. The October case is his sixth time being charged with driving while impaired, according to court and Registry of Motor Vehicles records, and the second time charges involved drugs.

Carhart's daughter, Mattapoisett resident Susan Linhares, and her family are seeking tougher state laws against repeat drunken drivers. She also started a web site, Justice For Diane, to call attention to the issue.

"For a repeat offender that killed someone while driving, I would like to see a second degree murder charge," Mrs. Linhares said. "I don't think that's unreasonable."

In 2002, Sandwich police charged Parker with driving while under the influence of drugs, but the case was dismissed a year later, records show.

Parker has been convicted of drunken driving four times and one case is pending.

When he was arrested in October, Parker told police he had taken methadone and ativan, a seditive, before getting behind the wheel, according to court records. He was in Falmouth District court on Tuesday on that charge, and the case was continued until March 30.

After he was charged in October, state police wrote a letter to the Registry saying that Parker posed an "immediate threat," and his license was revoked. His license also was suspended in December because he failed to pay a speeding ticket issued in 2005, registry records indicate.

"He had a total disrespect for the law," Mrs Linhares said. "We want to start where Melanie's Law stopped [left off]."

Melanie's Law is the state's 2005 drunken driving law named for a 13-year-old Marshfield girl who was struck and killed by a drunken driver. It created tougher sentences for vehicular homicide while under the influence and allowed police to use driving records as evidence, among other reforms.

"It just burns me that he's out on the street," Linhares said.

"Massachusetts has one of the most lenient laws on driving while intoxicated. It just seems so absurd because we are so proactive in so many other things."

Parker will be charged with vehicular homicide in connection with Carhart's death, according to police; no date has been set for his arraignment. He is also charged with driving after license revocation.

The police are not seeking charges of driving while under the influence in last week's deadly accident, but Sandwich Police Chief Michael Miller said the investigation continues and more charges could follow.

In a brief court appearence yesterday, Judge Don Carpenter warned Parker that his $1,000 bail could be revoked and he could be sent to jail for up to 60 days if he is charged with another crime.

"My deepest regrets from my family to theirs," Parker said as he walked away from the courthouse, at one point throwing up his arms and crying. "They're devastated and I'm devastated. It couldn't be a worse thing."

Linhares and Carhart's mother, Louise Kelsey, were at the court yesterday, but neither woman heard Parker's comments outside the courthouse. "He still got behind the wheel," Linhares said. "We need to get the laws strengthened, especially against repeat offenders."

State Rep. Jeffrey Davis Perry, R-Sandwich, said he is eager to see how the cases against Parker unfold. "I want to see if this case is an example of why we need to do more."

The Legislature will look at drunken driving laws in the upcoming session to close gaps in Melanie's Law, Perry Said.

Cape and Islands First Assistant District Attorney Michael Trudeau said tougher sentences created by Melanie's Law can be imposed only upon conviction.

Louise Kelsey, who turned 87 the night before her daughter was killed, said she had no interest in confronting Parker yesterday at the courthouse.

Instead she chooses to remember nights playing cribbage and watching the Red Sox with Diane.

"It still hasn't hit me that she's gone," Kelsey said. "She was more like a friend. We had both lost our husbands, and we were always together.

Standard-Times staff writer Brian Fraga contributed to this story.
George Brennan can be reached at gbrennan@capecodonline.com.