An 18-year-old Byron resident who was reportedly driving a golf cart Nov. 26 on North Byron Road when the cart was struck from behind by a car, leading to the death of her passenger, was arrested today on two felony charges.
A blood sample taken by investigators that night allegedly tested positive for alcohol and a drug.
Cortney L. Greene, of North Byron Road, Byron, is charged with vehicular manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
The top felony, a Class D, carries a maximum prison term of seven years.
The Sheriff's Office did not release the type of drug allegedly in Green's system at the time of the accident.
Zachary J. Rusin, 18, of Holley, died as a result of his injuries after being thrown from the golf cart when it was struck.
The accident was reported at 12:07 a.m. and Green was arrested that morning and charged with DWI, at which time she agreed to provide a blood sample to law enforcement.
The driver of the car, Emmaleigh R. Odom, 19, of Pavilion, was not injured and not charged.
A sad ending to a sad tale.
A sad ending to a sad tale. Let us hope that this young life will not be destroyed. I am sure she has suffered with the loss of her boy friend; a burden she will carry the rest of her life Yes she has to answer to the horrbile consequences of her actions; but let us hope the Law goes easy with her.
TP, I concur. I can't tell
TP, I concur. I can't tell you how many times I did something like this in my youth but fortunately nothing disastrous happened. Two people being young and tragedy struck them. Zachary paid the ultimate price but Cortney has to carry this for the rest of her life. No matter what the law does, she's already being punished.
Don't forget Emmaleigh.
Don't forget Emmaleigh. She'll live with this for the rest of her life too and she did nothing wrong. Very sad for all.
May God bless this young
May God bless this young lady,The families Involved and all concerned
I'm typically a pretty hard
I'm typically a pretty hard line person on this DWI stuff but in this particular case, considering the age, I'm with all of you. We all did dumb things in our youth, some just didn't get caught. I'm thankful I'm an old kodger and didn't have to go through that stage of my life under today's rules, I'll end the litergy right there!!
Tom, I can remember the days
Tom, I can remember the days when the cops would just dump the beer and tell everyone to GTF out of there. Times have changed...
Let’s hope she will learn
Let’s hope she will learn from this experience and have remorse. We all have seen in today’s society where people try to convince themselves it was not their fault or things happen. Hopefully the Judge will show her some leniency and she will turn her life around in a positive way. Sometimes people have a hard time dealing with things and are consumed by the things that drove them to their problem in the first place. Good Luck MS. Greene and I hope you share your experience with others so, they can see the dark side of drinking and driving.
Doug and Tom it amazing when
Doug and Tom it amazing when you think about that, we had the same peer pressure to drink, alcohol is still viewed as a party necessity, it was easier to obtained back then, plus age was lower, I do not know if the numbers of deaths are near the same (Correct me if I am wrong but, I do not notice any real significant difference in the number of reported alcohol related deaths of teens being greater than I hear today.)yet, here we are today with stricter laws and more public awareness and the problem still remains a big issue. I do believe that if, you can die for your country then you should be able to at least drink on post at the Enlisted or Officer's Clubs.
Maybe if there wasn't a
Maybe if there wasn't a drinking age at all, things would be better. I think there's a lot to be said about rebellious behaviors in teens and what they do to BE rebellious. Kids generally rebel by doing exactly what their parents and society have told them what they CAN'T do.
The drinking age for my era was 18 and all of us couldn't wait to be able to "legally" belly up to the bar and get plowed. The age didn't mean we were responsible enough to drink any more than a person is at age 21. I remember drinking before I was 18 and thinking how cool it was because it was illegal and I knew I could get into trouble for it if I got caught.
Other friends of mine allowed their kids to have a small glass of wine with their dinner right along with the adults and alcohol never became a big problem for those kids. How many 14 or 15 or 16 year old boys were allowed to have a beer with their pop when they went fishing (but don't tell your mom)?
I can remember being on a fishing trip in Algonquin Provincial park with my pop and his Canadian pals when I was 17. We were 25 miles into the park, fishing for the day was done, dinner had been eaten around the camp fire and we all sat around drinking hot toddies. I was "one of the boys" and it was a defining moment in my life. Not just because of the alcohol, but because I was included in something that they had been doing for over a decade together. Nobody got plastered but we were all comfortably buzzed and slept great, ready for another day on bodies of water that most people never get to see.
Maybe we're missing something in society now. I'm not saying that kids should be allowed to drink whenever they want but if they're taught rules and moderation at a younger age, maybe we wouldn't have the "taboo" problems that seem to be so pervasive. Maybe people will think I'm nuts but it actually makes sense to me.
I think you are right. Two
I think you are right. Two reason off the top of my head. My Grandpa allowed my cousins and me to drink under age. His rules were no swimming, walking out on the docks or operating any of his motor or row boats to include canoes and paddle boats. We never abused these rules. German society allows anyone who is tall enough to reach the bar to consume alcohol. I am sure they are taught rules to. Heck, it is not good to be stopped for DUI over there. They show no mercy! Understanding, rules and moderation like you stated makes a lot of sense.
I have never understood the
I have never understood the argument that removing the restrictions will de-stigmatize an activity resulting in more responsible exercise of it. Following that logic to it's natural conclusion would imply that no restrictions would equal no misbehavior.
Not at all, Jeff. I believe
Not at all, Jeff. I believe that "less" restrictions makes issues easier to control. All you have to do is look at what happened during prohibition. Alcohol was the drug to traffic because profitability was enormous. That profitability was generated by alcohol's illegality. Once it became legalized, we still had problems of alcohol abuse but it was easier to control and manage.
History should teach us what works but as the old saying goes "History repeats itself." The same mistakes are made over and over. For instance, there are people who honestly believe that the holocaust never happened and will steadfastly deny its existence. Even though there's irrefutable proof that it happened, to those people it never happened. How do we combat ignorance that holds everyone back from progress?
What America Can Learn From
What America Can Learn From Portugal's Drug War Reforms
http://reason.com/archives/2012/03/01/prohibition
I had a similar site
I had a similar site bookmarked: http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/07/05/ten-years-after-decrimi…
I like this line from reason.com: People who get high are rarely violent.
And this one: “Drugs can be—and are in many cases—problematic. But the policies that we have in place to prohibit their use are 10 times more problematic.”