June 28, 2007

A woman takes a plea deal, admitting to killing a man while driving under the influence - but it is not your typical DWI/ DUI.

Police say 52-year-old Darlene Kawczak of Feura Bush was driving her SUV last July, just before 11 o'clock in the morning, when she hit a bicyclist on Route 32 in Bethlehem. The victim, Joel Melnikoff, died at the scene.

It took a while for attorneys on both sides to come to an agreement on the case, because they say a popular sleep aid may have had a hand in it.
Tearful in Albany County Court Thursday, Darlene Kawczak pleads guilty to vehicular manslaughter. It is a charge that normally sees a maximum sentence of two-and-a-third to seven years in prison. But Kawczak will spend only six months in jail, and five years on probation - part of an unusual plea deal.
"Normally someone wouldn't be pleading to this sentence - but because of the various circumstances, that's what we decided was the most appropriate," says the Chief Assistant District Attorney.

Those circumstances surround what happened the night before the accident. Prosecutors say Kawczak drank five or six beers, then took a dose of the popular sleep aid "Ambien." But according to reports, that "dose" turned out to be a "double-dose," leading to tragedy the next morning.
"While I think there have been DWI arrests involving the use or misuse of Ambien, to my understanding, there have not been any other cases that have resulted in someone's death," Harris says.
Because of that, among other factors, attorneys on both sides say it was difficult to determine the most appropriate course of action.
"She took the breathalyzer test at the Bethlehem Police Department, it rang up zero - so, there were gonna' be some potential difficulties, that proof, if it went to trial," says Andrew Safranko, Kawczak's attorney.
As another part of her deal, Kawczak will work with the "Albany County Stop DWI" program, teaching about the possible dangers of using drugs like Ambien.