Legislator works to change hit-and-run-law
BY GABRIELLE MAYS, FOX 11 NEWS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27TH 2015
GREEN BAY - December is a tough month for the Kennedy family. "John's birthday is December 2," said Jeff Kennedy.
While in his wheelchair on Velp Avenue, John used the street because of the snow-covered sidewalk. Mark Sperber, of Forestville hit and killed John Kennedy almost five years ago. John was 20. "I keep waiting for it to get easier but it doesn't," Jeff Kennedy said. Sperber didn't stop and, said in court, he thought he hit a garbage can.
"This loophole is being used by people who, we feel, are driving under the influence or borderline driving under the influence and they're taking off and claiming, 'I didn't know I hit a person,'" Jeff Kennedy said.
Court documents reveal Sperber had been drinking the night of the crash. But it's unclear if he was over the legal limit when he hit and killed John. Sperber spent a little over a year behind bars.
Jeff and his wife Colleen still hold on to the pictures and memories of their son. "I think John was just a really wonderful happy kid. He was extremely bright but he was really a good person down to his soul," said Colleen Kennedy.
The Kennedy's reached out to state Representative Andre Jacque to bring more clarity to the existing law. "The bill prevents voluntary intoxication or some sort of a defense where somebody says, 'I was asleep at the wheel' or 'I was too drunk to see what I hit,'" said Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere.
Under the current law, drivers who hit another occupied vehicle are required to stop. Jacque's bill would require all drivers who hit something or someone to stop and investigate what they hit. A prosecutor wouldn't have to prove the driver hit a person or another vehicle under the changed law. "Our hit-and-run statues should not be at the mercy of somebody confessing on the stand," Jacque said.
Last month, the Kennedy's shared their son's story in Madison. "We just want to, hopefully, avoid someone else living through this the pain that we've lived through for the past five years. If any good can come out of John's passing, then, that's just a bonus," said Jeff Kennedy.
The bill has been passed by the committee. Jacque hopes the bill will be debated by the full assembly next month.
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