Why Do Convicted Drunk Drivers Get Away With Murder?

If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.

Dean Martin

Drunk drivers in Canada literally get away with murder and in all likelihood Marco Muzzo will receive a lenient sentence for the murders of 4 people. On September 27, Marco Muzzo, heir to a $1.8 billion dollar family fortune, got off the family’s corporate jet after his bachelor party trip in Miami. He got into his Jeep in the airport parking lot and headed off. Not long after, Marco Muzzo, who was speeding, drove through a stop sign on Kipling Avenue and struck the minivan carrying the Neville-Lake family. The three Neville-Lake children – 9 year old Daniel, 5 year old Harrison and 2 year old Milly - and their grandfather, Gary Neville, 65, died after the van they were in was struck by Muzzo’s vehicle. The children’s grandmother and great-grandmother were injured in the crash.

An officer who responded to the crash scene observed that Muzzo was unsteady on his feet, that Muzzo urinated on himself and was having a difficult time understanding direction. Muzzo was arrested, and provided two breath samples after speaking with his lawyer. The samples showed he had a blood alcohol level of more than double the legal limit. Marco Muzzo recently pled guilty to four counts of impaired driving causing death and two charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. The Crown saw fit to grant Muzzo $1 million bail, with conditions. Why a multiple murderer is granted bail in any amount boggles the mind!

Our justice system makes no sense. Drunk drivers who kill and criminals who kills by other means are not treated equally under the law. As a society we seem to believe that a drunk driver who kills isn’t really a murderer. I’ve watched enough Criminal Minds episodes to know that 3 murders or more makes one a serial killer. Well, in my book, Marco Muzzo is a serial killer who should never see the light of day. None of his victims will. Why is what Muzzo did any different than if he would have stood on a street corner and randomly gunned down 4 people? Dead is dead; and he killed 4 people and wiped out a family. Where is the justice for them?

“When are we going to stop treating alcohol like milk?” asks Robert Solomon, a law professor at Western University and a legal consultant for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. When it comes to impaired driving causing death, Solomon says judges interpret the Criminal Code heavily in favour of the accused. “It’s ‘boys will be boys, and there, but for the grace of God, go I,’ ” he says. The most recent Statistics Canada data on impaired driving, from 2010-11, shows that, among the 48,000 impaired driving cases in Canada, only 8% of those convicted were sentenced to jail time. For the ones who caused death, the mean jail time was 2½ years.

The reality is that Marco Muzzo murdered 4 people and injured 2 others. And, in a few short years he’ll be back on the street, still heir to a $1.8 billion fortune and I’m sure driving a brand new Ferrari in celebration of his release. The only ones serving life sentences are the Neville-Lake family. Where’s the justice in the justice system? How can a civilized society reward drunk driving murderers? When will we start calling drunk drivers who kill, MURDERERS, and subject them to the full weight of the law instead of treating them like frat boys who played an innocent prank? There were 4 funerals and that’s no joke.

You can hand over your keys or your life. Make the right choice.

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Geri