Is a maximum five years enough?
August 29th, 2012 at 2:00 pm by David Farrar
Photo by APN. Proof that a photo is worth 1000 words.
Anna Leask at NZ Herald reports:
An Auckland mother has admitted driving under the influence of methamphetamine and causing a crash that killed her 12-year-old daughter and injured a heavily pregnant woman in another car.
Toni Ericksen, 33, was scheduled to stand trial this week for driving under the influence of drugs causing the death of Bryer Rose Greenwood, the eldest of her two daughters.
She originally pleaded not guilty however the Herald has learned that she changed her plea to guilty on August 21.
Ericksen also admitted injuring her 8-year-old daughter Gemma Greenwood and another motorist in the same crash while under the influence of drugs, and being an unlicensed driver driving while prohibited. …
On August 14 Ericksen’s lawyer Peter Kaye indicated the defence was almost ready to proceed to trial. Expert witnesses were expected to give evidence about the crash analysis and the blood-alcohol and blood-drug test results.
Mr Kaye did not respond to the Herald yesterday and Ericksen could not be reached for comment.
When she first appeared in court she was supported by the president of the Auckland chapter of the Hells Angels gang, Douglas Jay, believed to be her current partner. Afterwards her then-lawyer Ron Mansfield said Ericksen had suffered a “tragic loss”. …
Ericksen will be sentenced on November 30. The maximum penalty for killing a person while driving under the influence of drugs is five years in jail or a fine of $20,000.
To drive under the influence when you have your kids in the car is just appalling. I really wonder if five years is an adequate maximum sentence for this so preventable loss of human life.
Could one of our lawyers help me. As I understand it, Police can also charge manslaughter in some situations. What are the criteria that decide which charge to use – manslaughter or “killing a person while driving under the influence …”?
Tags: Toni Ericksen
August 29th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
A decent person would hang their head in shame.
Vote:Nuff said
August 29th, 2012 at 2:32 pm
It’s not like the poor woman did it on purpose. Imagine killing your child. I think that’s punishment enough.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Gang scum.
Should be declared illegal aliens so they can be dealt with by the army rather than the police.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 2:36 pm
“It’s not like the poor woman did it on purpose.”
You fucking moron. She was drugged, driving while disqualified and crashed. How much more “purpose” do you need?
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 2:36 pm
Dear Judge,
Please oh, please give me the max sentence. I am trying really hard to get it.
Regards
I’m guilty.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 2:39 pm
This despicable woman is the perfect example of white trash.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
I don’t think she gives a shit. I’m sure she’ll pile on the tears if her lawyer thinks it’ll fool the sentencing judge though.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
What a pathetic excuse for a ‘mother’ – she tested positive for methamphetamine / admitted drug use / driving without a drivers licence / she killed her own daughter because of her own stupidity / admitted she caused an accident that also resulted in an injury to a pregnant woman in another car.
Even the panty waists among us will struggle to defend her – but no doubt they’ll try….
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Fuck da police.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
The single finger salute says it all. Trash.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Sorry, don’t agree.
What we know is:
1. She’s trash
2. She lost her license
3. She was under the influence of drugs
4. She crashed, killing one daughter, injuring another and injuring another driver
What else we know:
- People crash cars when they have a license, and when they aren’t under the influence
- Losing your license doesn’t mean you can’t drive, it means you did something you shouldn’t have
So, going from this to a statement that the drugs caused the accident, or the lack of license caused the accident, is a big stretch. It’s quite possibly true that she was legless stoned, and just drove off the road. It’s also possible that it was an accident when she was slightly over the limit, and because she’s trash everyone’s piling on and blaming here.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
paull – FFS.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
How can people seriously defend this idiot? Just wait till she kills your child. Then you’d be pretty angry.
New Zealand needs to teach some self responsibility for peoples actions. People must learn to understand that if you make stupid choices, bad things happen and no one else is responsible but you and you shall be punished.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 4:27 pm
One one hand you have a drug addled woman with gangster boyfriends who kills 1 person and seriously injures another while driving.
On the other, she is also a mother who lost a child (even if it was her actions who caused it).
So, I’m both repulsed and sympathetic at the same time.
However, she should be jailed for a long time just to protect others from her antics .
Incidentally, it is well known that many truck drivers take “P”.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
PaulL (4,754) boo fucking hoo. Are we supposed to feel sorry for her? Are we supposed condone the fact she drove her children when she had meth in her system even if it wasn’t a large amount? Anyone who loves their children would NOT do this. She tried to plead not guilty initially. She deserves all the consequences coming her way.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Cunningham: I’m just saying there’s a big fat pile on going on, and it’s mostly just people bleating because she’s trash and a gang member. If there’s evidence that she is actually culpable here, then that’s probably fair. Otherwise, it’s just accusing her because we don’t like her.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 4:40 pm
I don’t think 5 years is a suitable maximum. 10 years should be the maximum. She should get 5 years for early guilty plea and the loss of her daughter as a punishment in its own right. 10 years should be given for someone with a history of similar offending with no remorse, no guilty plea, and causing the death of someone.
I imagine she’ll get less than 5 years.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Load, Aim, Fire.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
PaulL what is wrong with you? Surely you don’t think all the punters here don’t know the real evidence in full detail or are in fact picking up their own interpretations from scant facts and stretching them to the max only to express themselves with eloquent terms such as ‘gang trash,’ ‘white trash,’ ‘scum’ and such other language they employ when frothing at the mouth.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
PaulL,
You mean aside from the positive drug test, the lack of an alternative explanation for the crash, and her guilty plea?
The crime she is guilty of is not one where people intend to kill someone. It’s a crime of irresponsibility: of putting yourself in a situation that significantly endangers other people. At a very basic level she is a mum with a gangster boyfriend and a meth habit. Her whole life is an exercise in irresponsibility towards her children.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 5:01 pm
All who comment on drugs should at least know wot they are talking about
Vote:go take some P then drive
smoke some pot
etc etc etc
Else you are talking shite out your arse
Hundreds of car crashes happen everyday. Where but by the grace of (insert deity of choice or just blind luck)any one of which could result in death
I hate scooter trash, I hate the damage that P does, but the uninformed shite that many spew on here is just as bad.
August 29th, 2012 at 5:02 pm
“Even the panty waists among us will struggle to defend her – but no doubt they’ll try…. ”
And on cue:
1. She’s trash
2. She lost her license
3. She was under the influence of drugs
4. She crashed, killing one daughter, injuring another and injuring another driver
Responses:
1. Subjective. But maybe you know her already?
2. No dispute (fact)
3. No dispute – (she admitted it)
4. No dispute (fact)
But in any event, she should NOT have been driving due to points 2 and 3. Had she acted within the Law, there would have been no point 2, no point 3 and as a result, no point 4. This is HER fault entirely.
And the evidence is not the subject of any dispute – she admitted the salient facts / she also entered a guilty plea.
I just hope the sentencing Judge has a copy of the photo in from of him / her when she is sentenced.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
I hope the sentencing Judge gets a copy of that photo with single fingure salute. She caused the death of her child and that is her attitude. I assume she does not lIke the media attention. Bet she is on welfare. As for trash that is a subjective term but reasonable in the circumstances.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 6:19 pm
You weren’t in the Ewen Macdonald jury were you??
I’ll have to remember that if I’m ever done for drunk driving. “Sure I’m drunk, sure I crashed the car into a tree, sure I peed my pants and shitted on myself – but can you prove it’s my fault? How dare you blame me!”
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 6:24 pm
For manslaughter for a driving matter you generally need three aggravating factors, pissed or stoned, disqualified and dangerous driving or the like
From what I read, she was only charged with the two.
Also she had a pretty switched on legal team and a very experienced support crew when dealing with legal matters.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 6:42 pm
You could plant that it would be quite attactive with a few stones around it.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 6:54 pm
First prize for gormlessly illustrating the problem that we have as a community.
Come on down Scott Chris @ 2.32
Hey Scott,
What say this, “poor woman” hit a bus full of children and killed, say ten innocents along with her
own child when she was out of it on drugs.
Then would the death of her own child then be punnishment enough for her. (poor soul)
What say 20 innocent children died because she chose to drive stoned.
If her own child died as well, then would that be punishment enough for her in your mind Scott Chris.
i do not expect any reply from the likes of Scott Chris but others will see how ludicrous this sort of
argument is.
Scott Chris, you are just a fool.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 7:22 pm
And Scott.
i define a fool as one who is deficient in sense, judgement or understanding.
3 out of 3 Scott.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
Of course it IS manslaughter, but in this country killing someone with a car is more acceptable than other means.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Honestly it’s not the driving under influence that I’d see as the more serious crime here – it was the driving while disqualified.
Vote:Anyone caught driving while disqualified should be subject to equivalent as to carrying firearms without a permit – every time.
And killing someone by driving while disqualified – only question should be manslaughter or murder.
August 29th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
she is a well known drug user & abuser in papakura for years was just a matter of time before she killed someone lucky her own kid not yours crewel but she almost killed some else in her past (my brother in law) from her drug taking so karma has just caught up yes she on DPB but that doesn’t support her drugs which why the need to sleep with men that do. posted by anonymous
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 9:05 pm
Herald has slipped up – 10 years maximum jail applies in this case – read on -
Leaving ‘under the influence’ to one side for one moment, could her driving have been called ‘careless’ or ‘reckless’ (s7 & s8 of Land Transport Act respectively). If ‘careless’ driving causing death a manslaughter would not succeed because of s150A of Crimes Act which sets the level of ‘carelessness’ needed for manslaughter – it has to be ‘a major departure from the standard of care expected of a reasonable person to whom that legal duty applies or who performs that unlawful act’ (this amendment followed a manslaughter conviction of an anasetethist who was negligent in not checking he was using the corredt drug in an emergency situation and brought the criteria for manslaughter into line with other Commonwealth countries). As far as I can see reckless driving causing death meets the legal requirements of manslaughter, but juries have been reluctant to convict drivers for manslaughter, hence the specific offence of reckless driving causing death. In practice the Police and Crown Law use a ‘points’ system to determine whether a reckless driving causing death or a manslaughter charge should be laid (eg unlicenced driver scores some points, so does speed above limit). So where a manslaughter charge is laid, there are sufficient aggravating factors that a jury is very unlikely to acquit. The maximum penalties for death from careless / reckless / manslaughter are 3 months, 10 years and life respectively.
I suspect in this instance the cause of the fatal accident was no more than ‘carelessness’ so a manslaughter charge would be ruled out. However where alcohol / drugs are involved, s61 of Land Transport Act kicks in. If someone is injured – 5 years maximun, death – 10 years maximum. So she faces 10 years maximum, not 5 years as indicated in the Herald.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 9:42 pm
‘a major departure from the standard of care expected of a reasonable person to whom that legal duty applies or who performs that unlawful act’
I would have thought being under the influence pretty much automatically qualifies it for manslaughter under this definition.
Vote:August 29th, 2012 at 10:36 pm
Wimmin drivers…what more needs to be said?
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 7:59 am
Kaipara Coast Highway is the road you take north when you want to do a little racing or whoops I’m shit faced and/or stoned. The cops never patrol it, and it’s almost as lethal as SH1. That motorway to Warkworth and beyond can’t get done soon enough
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 8:30 am
Well, if you’ve ever driven over the limit, (as I have) you’re as culpable as this woman.
You and I got lucky. She didn’t.
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 8:45 am
What ? You drove drunk flaccid bottom ? I demand you hand yourself in to the nearest plod station forthwith.
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 9:44 am
Her lawyer states she is filled with remorse every day.
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 10:48 am
The digital salute aside this woman needs help and jail may just about the only option for her to get it.
It is hard to imagine she killed her daughter deliberately but her abuse of drugs and irresponsible decisions resulted in her daughters death. I cannot see how she can escape a significant jail term.
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Just to start off, did anyone else notice that the photo at the top of the page is listed as being taken by ‘ Bryer Greenwood’ which also happens to be her dead daughters name. (so who is she really giving the finger to here).
According to the law in new zealand, the maximum penalty for injuring while driving on Meth is also 5 years in prison or a $20,000.00 fine, same as causing death while driving on meth; this woman injured 4 people, herself included through her stupidity and absolute disregard for the safety of others, and she killed an innocent 12 year old girl. thank god it wasn’t my daughter she was driving home from netball that day. my point being this woman is going to get of way to easy with this, will she be receiving a sentence for each individual crime or just for the death of bryer greenwood. i mean if i got high then bought a gun, went to my sons school and shot and killed him and shot but only injured some other kids would i receive a sentence for each crime or just my sons death. would they go easy on me because my son had just died. you may say its not the same thing but really it is, her car was the gun and the meth was the bullets, put them together and bang your dead along with anyone else who may be in the way. for safetys sake they should take her other daughter of her and put her in her fathers care and she should never be allowed to hold a drivers license again. a license to drive is not a right it is a responsibility. she should not get anything less than 10 years in prison maybe 5 with good behavior. and I’m sure this woman is feeling a lot of regret about what happened, i mean the insurance company probably declined payment for the damages. but remorse give me a break (she didn’t even cry at her daughters funeral) bryer’s father (Ken) was very upset though, i see that a lot of the focus seems to be on Toni, has anyone considered how this tragedy has effected other people. this woman’s stupidity seems to have no end, notice she has to appear in a criminal court being charged with killing someone and she brings a known gang leader to act as a character reference for her. i wonder what he said, no your honor in my opinion when toni and i do meth together she seems fine driving home with the girls, accident must have just been pure bad luck, toni’s not to blame at all. what a sack of shit; the bitch deserves to be locked up for a very long time. i have no sympathy for any mother that would knowingly endanger there childs lives the way she did.
Vote:Toni’s sentencing is in november, i bet 100 to 1 that she gets of easy. purely because she’s a woman and a solo mother. ill bet if it was a solo father that had done this, the kids would be in the mothers care quicker than you can blink, he would end up with a very harsh sentence and he would probably be in custody right now awaiting trial and sentencing. R.I.P Bryer I’m gonna miss you.
August 31st, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Just a quick question; if Toni Ericksen is ordered by the courts to pay the maximum of $20,000.00 in reparations for killing bryer greenwood (her daughter) who does she pay the money too? what if she doesn’t have 20K will the judge make her do time instead; i wouldn’t mind doing a few months behind bars instead of forking out 20K. will the judge consider how making her pay a fine or reparations of that magnitude will effect the financial support of her other daughter (Jemma) the one she didn’t kill through her stupidity (this time).
Vote:September 4th, 2012 at 8:19 pm
Who do you guys think you are you don’t even know Toni and to think she doesn’t care about her daughter is sick. Bryer was my best friend and she was so proud of her mum and loved her so dearly. She’s not a crackpot or a low life. Not a moment goes by that she doesn’t feel sorry for what she did. That picture is aimed at you guys who say horrible things about her. Lay of. You know nothing
Vote:September 6th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
I’m sure bryer did love her mother and was proud of her, she was 12 years old too young to no otherwise, as I’m sure you are as bryer’s best friend georgiepie; the fact is toni was a woman that hung out with gang members (wow what a role model) and took illegal drugs to get high (so who was looking after her kids while she was getting her fix. and her actions got her daughter killed and others seriously injured. i hope toni does feel some remorse for what she did, that at least would be something. as for not knowing toni, don’t be to sure about that. how proud do you think people are of toni now.
Vote:September 6th, 2012 at 9:46 pm
Of coarse georgiepie123xx as you are child yourself you have absolutely no idea what really going on behind closed doors of a crack addict. Toni was a heavy drug user she lied, used and hurt a lot of people to get drugs for many years. Then to top it off kills her own daughter by her own actions. Bryer had no control over her mothers drug habit and as it was happening right in front of Bryer face so often unfortunately it became normal to her. Toni was so high on P at Bryer’s funeral she couldn’t even cry. If Toni cared about Bryer she wouldn’t have arrived at the funeral on the same drug that killed her daughter. What you need to learn georgiepie123xx is people aren’t always as they seem.
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