Saudi Drunk Driver/Killer gets a year in jail.. in Mass

[SirFozzie]

Don't get me wrong, I love where I live.. but shit like this makes my blood boil over.

Saudi royal gets year in Vineyard jail
Victim's kin says deal in DUI plea too lenient

By Jonathan Saltzman and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff | November 18, 2005

In a plea deal that infuriated the victim's family, a Suffolk Superior Court judge sentenced a distant member of the Saudi royal family to one year in a prison on Martha's Vineyard yesterday after he admitted driving drunk when he struck and killed Orlando Ramos on a downtown Boston street.

Prince Bader al-Saud pleaded guilty to motor vehicle homicide while drunk, a misdemeanor, before Judge Christine McEvoy. The 23-year-old admitted he was driving a BMW sport utility vehicle on Oct 29, 2002, that slammed into Ramos, 37, as he was crossing Charles Street around 2:40 a.m. near the intersection with Boylston Street.

While Saud's defense lawyers and Suffolk prosecutors said the plea deal was just, relatives of Ramos, led by his sister Reyita Ramos, harshly criticized the sentence and the decision to send Saud out of Suffolk County to serve his sentence at the Dukes County House of Correction.

Ordinarily, Saud would likely have served his sentence at the Suffolk County House of Correction in Roxbury, where more than a thousand prisoners are housed.

''We know there are so many people who would never have gotten that chance," Ramos said after the sentencing. ''I don't care what anybody says: Money talks."

In court, Ramos called the sentence a ''slap in the face" and pointed out that Saud had earned a master's degree from Boston University while free on bail.

''You have received in this process so many privileges because of who you are," she said. ''You received your degree from a great university, while we as a family received a death certificate."

Saud registered .12 on a breath alcohol test, above the legal limit of .08, according to court records. In court papers, Saud's defense lawyers said Ramos's blood alcohol level was .176 and that he had traces of cocaine in his system. They also presented psychiatric records they said showed Ramos had a history of suicidal behavior and had stepped in front of a car one month before he was killed.

In court, McEvoy said Saud's position as a prince in his native Saudi Arabia did not influence her. She praised Saud for accepting responsibility and pointed out that he has no prior criminal history since moving to Massachusetts in 1999.

''This is a welcome admission by someone to accept personal responsibility for the crime that he has committed," McEvoy said in court. Saud's royal blood ''means nothing to this court because in this system of justice, every individual is treated the same, no matter what their social status is," she said.

In court papers, Conley's office said there was a possibility that Saud would not be convicted of any crime if the case went to trial, in part because defense lawyers uncovered Ramos's psychiatric history of depression.

They also said the one-year sentence matched what other defendants have been given in Suffolk County.

''Regardless of whether he's a prince from Riyadh or a plumber from Readville, he would have gotten the same sentence," said David Procopio, a spokesman for Conley.

Michael DeMarco, Saud's defense lawyer, acknowledged that Ramos's family has been through a ''terrible tragedy." But, he also said, relatives have demanded millions to settle a pending civil suit against Saud.

But Richard A. Eustis, who is representing Ramos's daughter in the lawsuit, called DeMarco's contention ''offensive."

In a telephone interview, the Dukes County sheriff, Michael A. McCormack, said he agreed to house Saud in the Edgartown prison because the prince is a slightly built man and could be targeted by gangs in larger prisons because he is from the Middle East.

McCormack said Saud was being held in maximum security, locked up for 23 hours a day, but could be in the general population and living in a dormitory with nine other inmates within seven days. The prison holds 36 prisoners and was built in 1873, he said.

''Martha's Vineyard is a recreational area, no question about it," McCormack said. ''But jail is a jail, whether it's on the Vineyard or in Boston."

Saud is eligible for parole in six months, but the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency filed a detainer yesterday, meaning that he will be sent to federal immigration authorities before he can leave the county, officials said.

[Raiders Army]

Saud registered .12 on a breath alcohol test, above the legal limit of .08, according to court records. In court papers, Saud's defense lawyers said Ramos's blood alcohol level was .176 and that he had traces of cocaine in his system. They also presented psychiatric records they said showed Ramos had a history of suicidal behavior and had stepped in front of a car one month before he was killed.

This is weird.


Other than that, this guy comes from a country where they supposedly chop off your hand for stealing. I say the death penalty would be appropriate.

[DaddyTorgo]

this makes me sick. fuck this stupid state. and fuck the stupid judge. i hope they get struck and kiled by him after he gets out of jail. that's fucking absurd

*really steamed*

[st.cronin]

I grew up there and would never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever live or work in Massachussetts. And yet I root for the Sox, Celtics, Patriots and Bruins. What does that say about my childhood?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Umm ... everybody is (pardon the pun) "royally pissed" but ...

They also said the one-year sentence matched what other defendants have been given in Suffolk County.

So where's the anger the rest of the time?

[ISiddiqui]

It's a Saudi royal, so it's ok to be mad this time .

[Crapshoot]

Yeah, given what Jon pointed out- what's the deal ? You can certainly agree that Suffolk should tighten its standards, but this looks like an attempt to create racial/cultural controversy where there is none.

[Mr. Wednesday]

It seems like people are saying that he got special treatment just because the sentence was light and he is who he is -- without looking at the actual circumstances, like questions about obtaining a conviction and comparable sentences from other cases.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Umm ... everybody is (pardon the pun) "royally pissed" but ...



So where's the anger the rest of the time?

True, but the article also said:

McCormack said Saud was being held in maximum security, locked up for 23 hours a day, but could be in the general population and living in a dormitory with nine other inmates within seven days. The prison holds 36 prisoners and was built in 1873, he said.

''Martha's Vineyard is a recreational area, no question about it," McCormack said. ''But jail is a jail, whether it's on the Vineyard or in Boston."

Slight difference in where he's being held...not defending either side, but just pointing it out.

[Joe]

[Honolulu_Blue]

I think Jon has the right of this.

I don't imagine that the outcome of this case would be much different elsewhere in the country. First offense. A rich person (= good lawyers). I would be hard pressed to think too many judges anywhere else in the US (except maybe Texas) would have handled it all that differently.

Is this much different than the Leonard Little thing?

That said, I think it's fair to be outraged at how the system works and demand harsher penalties for people who drink and then commit vehicular manslaughter. This case is just illustrative of the system in general. The fact that he's Saudi royalty has very little to do with this whole thing other than explaining why he's got a lot of money and driving a BMW SVU. The fact that this happened in Mass. isn't much of a factor either. This could have (and does) happen pretty much anywhere in the US.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

The fact that this happened in Mass. isn't much of a factor either. This could have (and does) happen pretty much anywhere in the US.

Okay, when me & you are agreeing on a variety of points, well ... if that ain't a sign that the case is pretty cut & dried I don't know what is

For all the scorn I can heap on the People's Republic of Massachusetts, I'm in full agreement with your statement -- this is NOT a Mass. thing, this is a pretty much anywhere/everywhere thing.