Unwarranted and highly disproportionate’: Drunk driver who killed newlywed bride seeks lower term, claims media interest led to harsh punishment

Posted by Nick December 15, 2024
Unwarranted and highly disproportionate' Drunk driver who killed newlywed bride seeks lower term, claims media interest led to harsh punishment

The drunk driver who killed a newlywed bride moments after her wedding reception last year has asked a judge to reduce her prison sentence.

Attorneys for Jamie Lee Komoroski, 26, filed a 77-page motion on Thursday asking Ninth Judicial Circuit Judge Deadra L. Jefferson to reconsider the condemned woman’s 25-year sentence.

On December 2, Komoroski pleaded guilty to two counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury, as well as one count each of felony DUI resulting in death and reckless homicide resulting in death.

Sentences were issued quickly in the Palmetto State. On the same day, the court sentenced her to 15 years for each DUI resulting in injury, 25 years for the DUI resulting in death, and 10 years for the reckless homicide conviction. Jefferson determined that the sentences should run concurrently (or at the same time).

In the motion, the defense says her upcoming prison stint is “unwarranted and grossly disproportionate” for similarly situated cases in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina—and even when compared to many other “neighboring jurisdictions” across vast swathes of the country’s southern and mid-Atlantic regions.

A review of sentences in the same court for felony DUI resulting in death reveals sentences ranging from nine to 18 years in prison.

In a review of such cases from across Charleston County, including some involving multiple deaths, the defense demonstrated how some cases resulted in sentences of as little as six years in prison.

In other Charleston County cases, some sentences were technically disposed of with the same sentence as Komoroski — 25 years — but only on paper. In those cases, however, the total prison time served was only 16 years because the entire sentence was suspended for several years.

According to the motion, in other similar cases cited by the defense, the ultimate time served ranged from four to 18 years in prison.

In many South Carolina cases from different counties with similar facts, the defense notes that defendants have received effective sentences of as little as three years in prison.

On the night in question, Komoroski was driving and heavily intoxicated when she collided with the golf cart carrying the happy couple as they left their wedding reception in Folly Beach.

Samantha Miller, 34, was killed in the crash, which also injured her husband, Aric Hutchinson, his brother-in-law, and nephew.

According to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the drunk driver was traveling 65 mph at the time of the collision in a mostly residential area with a speed limit of 25 mph.

According to police, Komoroski refused a field sobriety test and smelled of alcohol, telling officers she had only had one beer and a drink with tequila about an hour before the crash.

According to at least one witness on the scene, the defendant repeatedly stated that she “did nothing wrong.”

When she refused to take a field sobriety test or provide a breath sample, police obtained a warrant to draw blood. Tests revealed a blood alcohol content of.261, more than three times the legal limit.

Komoroski’s attorneys acknowledge “the gravity of the offense was severe” in their motion to reconsider, but argue that the judge failed to take several mitigating factors into account during sentencing.

The motion’s laundry list includes:

Lack of any criminal history or any history of violence;

Unprotected pleas of guilty to spare the victim-family members from the difficulty of trial and save the State time and resources;

Absence of intent to cause death;

known struggles with alcohol abuse, and remedial steps taken to address her addiction;

genuine expressions of remorse and regret for her actions;

History, character and rehabilitative potential;

No prior history of DUI or DUI-related offenses; and

Complete and unequivocal acceptance of responsibility for her actions.

“The Court is required to equally consider both aggravating and mitigating factors and, as evidenced by the maximum sentence issued against Ms. Komoroski on each count to which she pleaded, such balancing did not occur,” the brief states.

The convicted woman’s attorneys argue that in many of the surveyed cases, where similarly situated defendants received shorter sentences than their client, the mitigating factors were less substantial.

Repeat DUI offenders are frequently sentenced more leniently than Komoroski, who “received the most severe penalty permitted by state law for each count to which she pleaded guilty.”

And, according to the defense, in some cases, defendants who killed multiple victims, had a BAC higher than or comparable to Komoroski, and contested their charges but lost at trial have received significantly shorter sentences.

The motion contends that media coverage is a significant — and inappropriate — factor to blame for the “gross disproportionality” of sentencing.

“Unlike Ms. Komoroski, all similarly charged defendants received some type of sentence credit for pleading guilty, saving the State and victim- family members from the emotional difficulty and trauma of a contested jury trial,” according to the motion.

“These other cases likely did not garner the same degree of media attention; however, the significant media interest cannot serve as an aggravating factor justifying a longer sentence.”

The defense also cites sentencing ranges from “neighboring” states such as Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Texas, West Virginia, and Virginia. In none of those states, the maximum sentence for drunk driving resulting in death is 20 years.

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