lisa53115 my heart goes out to you, your family, and Jane.

I'm the sister of the man espinosa killed.There are so many more factors than just the pot.He was driving an unregistered vehicle with stolen plates.No drivers license,and an illegal immagrant with no driving instruction.He didn't even try to stop,no skid marks.How could anything but bad come from all of the unlawful things this person did.Smoking pot was just one of the things that factored in my brothers death.

Crazycatlady... regardless of no lighing as you say... it is posted that a stop is ahead. It is also a country road. A safe driver would be aware of their surroundings and at least consider the fact that at any time, the road may curve, etc., just because he may never had been on this particular raod, so what? He blew the stop sign. Inexperience is what I'm chalking this up to. If he's gonna get high, stay put! If you're gonna get that blasted, stay PUT!

idu2: Pay attention to the article and learn what negligent means. Open a statute book and get the legal definition or learn it online. This charge was added because this, at this time, the DA feels he has the proof he needs, without the chemical analysis of the blood for THC content. This guy was negligent (failing to exercise the care expected of a reasonably prudent person in like circumstances), in the operation of the motor vehicle, directly causing the death of another. It has nothing to do with the marijuana. He's not throwing something up and charging whatever to see what sticks, he's doing what is right. Pay attention. I'd want someone like you to be a "jury of my peers" to take my chances in front of, I'll tell ya that.

Negligent simply because he blew through a stop sign. It's as simple as that. He took the life of an inocent man and we'll be paying for this mope for the rest of our lives. Just wonderful.

sweet. trojanvirus called SHENANIGANS. we win.

"A charge of homicide by negligent use of a vehicle was added Thursday because results from a blood test to check if Espinosa was under the influence of marijuana aren’t back yet, said Walworth County District Attorney Phil Koss." I thought you had to have proof before you charge someone! Not let's wait and see! If that's the case then let's charge everyone with everything and see if it all comes back against them. And I don’t agree with what he did either!

thekid- YES!!!!!
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I'm not a pot smoker and don't care to smoke it, but I strongly believe that marijuana should be legalized. Of course it's not 100% safe, obviously it's a mind-altering drug BUT how in the world can it be okay for alcohol to be legal when it's a very well known FACT to have many negative side effects, but marijuana to be illegal when the majority of the side effects include being hungry, giggly, and relaxed. I mean, come on!! SHENANIGANS!!!

worldlove; i meant only if the person was drunk or high that caused the accident

controlledchaos: you seem not to have answered my question

thisme; The reason I think this person is scum is because he was being an idiot and killed an innocent person! DUH!!!! It dosent take a rocket scientist to figure that out

latinmami i was in no way insinuating that you are racist. i was saying to stereotype potheads is as silly as being racist. its all on the individual....ALWAYS. and you are more than correct about all the things you say about alcohol vs pot. i believe pot is a better drug for me. that doesnt make it a better drug. i have a lot of reasons that say it is a better drug...but thats not what i preach about. i preach to point out that you AGAIN, are missing one VITAL point to your comparison. if pot and alcohol are AT WORST, equal drugs, then why can i LEGALLY chose to sit here, have a beer but i cant sti here and LEGALLY smoke a bowl. we ALL KNOW one is now worse than the other. yet one of these drugs is READILY available to ANYONE with an id proving they are 21. the other, again NO WORSE, can only be obtained on the 'black market'. making criminals out of those who ARENT and giving the anti-potters amunition to keep the drug illegal. how can no one grasp this hypocrisy...

the point he is always making that pot is good and should be legalized so that way he doesn't have to worry about being busted. yes drinking has caused more accidents then pot but that does not make the pot better than drinking they are both not okay to do when you are going to be out driving. people drink all the time and do so without getting into trouble and people smoke without getting into trouble as well, the problem is that when people who do chose to drink and or smoke pot and then chose to get on the roads and end up taking innocent people's lives

latinmami i'm thinking maybe you missed the point the kid was trying to make.

are you seriously comparing sterotyping pot heads against racism, that is really funny. i was commenting because you stated "that you cant tell WHEN someone got high" i was not commenting on him admitting that he had gotten high. yeah and the racist thing i am far from that, have you not noticed my name, you should go back to your smoking like you said you were going to do

latinmami are you serious?? im talking about a dude after an accident. high or not you think this kid was laughing?? he obviously wasnt sitting on a couch?? any other IGNORANT stereotypes you want to use?? this kids hispanic. you got any race stereotypes you want to use on him?? those are just as fair and accurate as stereotyping pot smokers.

smell...speech...balance. but those arent side effects of marijuana so its harder to tell when someone is high vs when they are drunk...which brings us back to the hypocrisy...but its fri...i got smokin to do not ranting...;)
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you can tell when people are high, they smell like pot, their speech can be off because they are laughing so much as for balance not an issue with high people because most of the time they are just sitting around and not moving.

first story on this guy said he had marijuana and paraphanelia on him. thats why he admitted to smoking 6 hours earlier...cuz when they test him he KNOWS he will be dirty whether he was smoking at the time of driving or not. one of the reasons legalizing pot is so difficult is that you cant tell WHEN someone got high...only that they WERE at one time in the not so distant past, high. had this been alcohol...more times than not you dont need a test to determine alcohol was involved. smell...speech...balance. but those arent side effects of marijuana so its harder to tell when someone is high vs when they are drunk...which brings us back to the hypocrisy...but its fri...i got smokin to do not ranting...;)

First off I would just like to say that no matter what caused this accident it is very sad that a person died because of it & my heart goes out to his family & friends. I know none of the people involved & have no way of knowing if this boy smoked pot 6 hours or 6 minutes before this happened other then what is reported in the paper. However, I am very familiar with the intersection where this accident happened, in fact I was there about an hour or so after. This is a very rural area, no lighting, the kid was from Milwaukee & possibly had never been on this road before in his life (& why he would be is beyond me)so knowing this it seems very feasible to me that he just did not see the stop sign until it was far too late. One thing that will be interesting to see in all of this though is will he get more or less time then Krystal Hart?

Such silliness... I would chalk it up to being 17 years old at nearly 4am in a vehicle!

Scenario... kid doesn't get along with many kids his age. The ones he does hang with are the losers who think a bit of pot is cool.

His Mom works 3rd shift, so he decided to run around for no particular reason. Stopped by a "buddy's" house, grabbed a "hit or two". Then just bummed around. Probably stopped at Kwik
Trip, grabbed some munchies, then drove around some more.

He just got tired, and kids are crappy drivers, face it...

Just the same, he should never see the "light of day" again!

If you kill someone, you do NOT get a second chance.
I wish we DID lock the door and through away the key!!!

thekai, what's been keeping you busy lately? Are you the Mr. Kai who's been in the news recently?

Yes, Mikki, angel dust is animal tranq and it makes a person crazy. I knew a guy who was whacked out on angel dust and he tried to enter his house by going through the mail slot in his door!

He looks like he got weed-nod in the picture.

This situation highlights how pot tends to always get a pass because potheads are usually juiced up too when they crash or kill someone.

He actually didn't say it was the weed, he just admitted to smoking it 6 hours earlier. He may not have been trying to get off with a "lighter" sentence by "blaming" the weed, he was probably just being honest when the police asked, "When was the last time you smoked weed?" Or maybe the cops pressured him in to something. It *does* happen.
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What does it matter what thekai was doing? I think that question is irrelevant.

There have been studies done on the affects of being tired while driving and they are close to drunk driving. At 3:45 in the morning, this could have been a factor. You can't automatically assume that it was the weed.

Wellll, if you look at the kid, does he look like a 17 year old that goes to school?! Not really he looks like he is a dealer or something, going nowhere, which is sad.

But yeah being high for 6 straight hours, I don't think so..... It doesn't last that long.

Ever given any thought that perhaps it wasn't only weed? Maybe it was laced with something.
I remember waaaay back in the 70's-80's when I did smoke, I ended up having some laced with Angel Dust and was screwed up for over 12 hours.

I never smoked again.

Hannah up to thisisme are right! I haven't even smoked it for a LONG time BUT I do know 6 hours before driving won't impair your driving. This was an accident and "controlledchaos" quite harsh if you ask me, so anyone who isn't paying attention on the road and causes an accident should get the death penalty? YES people need to be more aware but your words are HARSH.

TrojanVirus and TheKid, you guys are my heroes.
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I've been really busy lately, running around like a chicken with my head cut off... but you two, and notably others in this thread who agree with you, are spot on. The marijuana wouldn't have affected him six hours later. Here's a thought... maybe this guy was just a little tired? It was nearly daylight again. Driving while being sleep deprived has shown to be just as dangerous as drunk driving.
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I'm not ruling out other possibilities here, but it seems like the answer to this riddle is right in front of us. Inexperienced driver who didn't want to sleep before getting behind the wheel. Happens a lot with kids. I'm ashamed to say I've done it in the past, but I was lucky enough to learn from my mistakes without anyone getting hurt.

Is that Fez?

What is it, in your opinion, that makes this person scum?

The law should be a life for a life

Bring the death penalty to wisconsin and use it on scum like this, it will make more people think twice about doing stupid things like this, and takeing innocent lives, and save the taxpayers money for feeding and houseing these losers in our jails,and keep them out of society permanately

Another question would be... What is a 17 year old child doing out at 3:45 am on a school night? I do believe that is well after curfew.

I haven't smoked marijuana in 3+ years and I'm on the bandwagon that believes it should be legalized. So carlitosway, my mind isn't "clouded" as you put it, so how do you defend that?
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Marijuana is much safer than alcohol which *has* been legalized. I know plenty of people who would rather smoke than drink. I say let them!!
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Smoking marijuana six hours before driving wouldn't have impaired this kid's driving abilities. Either he lied about how long ago he smoked or the cops pressured him in to "admitting" that the marijuana was a factor in the crash. My guess is that the kid just wasn't paying attention. I've seen it many times when people run stop signs or pull out in front of me when I'm going 55mph and have to slam on my breaks. People just aren't respectful anymore and they lack common sense.
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I believe this accident still would have occurred if he wouldn't have smoked anything.

My question is why are they still waiting on a tox screen? Also...how are they going to be able to tell whether or not he was smoking 1 week before, 2 days before, 6 hours before or 5 minutes before? Because each strain of pot has its own THC levels (and I believe this is how they would check his system) depending on what kind of pot he smoked and how much he smoked, his levels of THC would range. If you can find pot that will keep you high for 6 hours there would be people lined up around the block...all i see out of this article is negligence for not stopping on this kids part.

I got ur back Kid!
I can honestly say that I have NEVER found ANY type of marijuana that has impaired my abilities for 6 hours; unless I spent 6 hours smoking. Maybe that's what he meant! :)

mespi: what im saying is this story has as much relevance to the millions who want to smoke and not worry about arrest as the story about that 16 year old drunk driver who killed that man does with you being able to drink a beer. nothin. nathan. nada. zip. no relevance.

hannah is correct...if the last time this kid smoked marijuana was 6 hours prior then there is NO WAY it was a factor. it just doesnt last that long. i dont care if its the finest stuff out there...and i dont know many 17 year olds who smoke that. if marijuana WAS a factor he smoked way more recently than 6 hours.

The kid in this story admitted to smoking pot six hours before driving and that impaired his driving. Are you saying that the millions of you who smoke in a “responsible manner NOT WANTING TO BE ARRESTED” have never driven a car within six hours of smoking pot? Or are you all just better impaired drivers than this guy was?

wow!

you people make yourselves look like fools. have i EVER said it doesnt impair?? nope. should i look and see how many of these stories i can find that involve alcohol?? this kid admitting to smoking pot before driving in NO WAY has anything to do with the MILLIONS of us who smoke in a responsible manner NOT WANTING TO BE ARRESTED. take the blinders off fools...its a beautiful day out...

I agree!! WELL said!!!

Well said.

now thekid needs to tell me again about the effects of weed. Does it impair your ability? I know from years ago I was impaired and had difficulty in my abilities to function as i would normally do. that was before I grew up! Then I cleared my head for a period of time and realized all my reasons it should be legalalized were coming from clouded judgement and a rebelious attitude.