10 year sentence for driver who struck and killed pedestrian

From the Times:

A 34-year-old sex offender with a lengthy rap sheet was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison Friday for running over and killing a 91-year-old Capitol Hill woman last year.

Shipp’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.16 percent, twice the legal limit, after the crash, according to police. Shipp, police said, denied being drunk, saying he had taken a 500-milligram Vicodin pill several hours earlier.

[Judge] Yu told Shipp his two-page criminal history persuaded her to hand down a harsh sentence. The judge questioned whether Shipp ever had learned a lesson from time he previously spent behind bars.

It’s unlikely the sentence would have been nearly as severe if the negligent driver were not a repeat offender. Currently, a vulnerable users bill is being considered in committees in the state congress, which would increase penalties for vehicular negligence. Seattle Bike Blog has a good write-up of the status of HB 1339 and SB 5326.

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1 Response to “10 year sentence for driver who struck and killed pedestrian”


  • Even more disappointing than a 10-year sentence for homicide being considered exceptional—the prosecution had actually agreed to just 8 years—is the fact that a person whose convictions include “first-degree child rape, twice failing to register as a sex offender, assault, motor-vehicle theft, drug possession, vehicle prowling, drunken driving, driving with a suspended license and speeding 28 miles over the posted limit” and now vehicular homicide doesn’t qualify for a mandatory life sentence under our state’s three-strikes law. He’ll be out on the streets again before his 45th birthday, and I’d bet good money that he’ll celebrate his first night of freedom at a bar and then get behind the wheel.

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