Authorities charged a Winston-Salem state lawmaker with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle Thursday after a fatal car wreck in December.
Rep. Larry Womble left the legislative session in Raleigh to turn himself into the Forsyth County magistrate's office where a warrant said he "unlawfully and willfully caused the death" of the other driver by failing to maintain lane control, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
The N.C. Attorney General's special prosecution unit is handling the case. Womble, 70, crossed the centerline striking the other car, witnesses told police. The other driver had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, police reports state.
Womble returned to the ongoing legislative session for the first time Tuesday, welcomed with applause by his colleagues. He is still recovering from his injuries and appeared at the magistrate's office in a wheelchair, the newspaper reported. His court date is July 18.
Comments
Reading these comments....
May 25, 2012 - 7:11am — Jackson_Tybee... makes me seriously wonder about the NC education system. Please tell me all of you are from out of state... "willfully crossed" is clearly a standard legal term. No one thinks Rep. Woblme intentionally thought, "Hey! I'll just zoom across this center line and see what happens. Yeeeha!"
The fact that the dead driver was drunk is immaterial. He did not contribute to the accident.
The fact that Rep. Womble had NO alcohol in his system is very material. It proves that he is just an old driver who should not be on the road because his reflexes now suck and he gets distracted too easily -- him and thousands of other old North Carolinians who create havoc on the road, usually behind them as they drive 35 miles an hour on the highway so they don't get caught, they just drive blissfully home, slow as turtles, while half the state gets rear-ended behind them.
Appropriate charge....
May 24, 2012 - 6:34pm — NC74...and about time!
Anne, Would the rationale .....
May 24, 2012 - 6:14pm — InspectorPittHave been different if he had crossed the center line, ran across an embankment and crashed into your kitchen where you were washing down a great steak with a pint of Jack Daniels?
Re: Comment to Anne
May 24, 2012 - 6:13pm — cato08So you're in favor of the death penalty for an accident, a little harsh huh?
State Rep. Larry Womble
May 24, 2012 - 5:54pm — jrf1985State Rep. Larry Womble, a Democrat, drove into the path of an oncoming car on December 2, 2011 in a head-on collision that killed the other driver. According to a Winston-Salem police report, Womble, 70, was not wearing a seatbelt when he crossed the center line of a Winston-Salem road about 11 p.m. and hit the car of David Allen Carmichael, 54.Carmichael died at the scene. Even though Carmichael has a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit Womble now faces misdemeanor death by vehicle charges. Misdemeanor death by motor vehicle implies the death was accidental. As for time, I doubt he'll see any. The max punishment might be 60 days in jail. Any other "average citizen" would be doing time for this incident!
DUIs
May 24, 2012 - 5:06pm — josephusdI am strongly in favor of getting drunk drivers off the road. But not in this manner.
@annerussell
May 24, 2012 - 4:42pm — josephusd"I am so sorry ... Womble has been charged ... especially when the other driver was drunk as a skunk and Larry has not been charged with DUI. What is the rationale for this?"
Gee, Anne, could this be the rationale: Witnesses told police Womble crossed the center line, went into the other man's lane, and killed him. This is my guess.
Apparently the super drunk was, at the time of his death, able to drive more safely than Womble. Too bad we can't charge him with a DUI and lock him up. The death penalty would be too good for him.
What the Heck!
May 24, 2012 - 4:48pm — jimcoolJust how willfully stupid can a dumb cop get. If someone willfully crosses a center line driving to hit another auto then its first degree murder of a felony rule of law and not a misdemnamor. How does one willfully cross a center line and it not be on purpose. If on purpose or willfully how is not that murder or at least a felony. I seriously beleive there are somewhere a pair of rocks in my front yard with a higher IQ than a yoyo cop will ever be. Dang! lets don,t even start on bookem Danno type agreeable to the rock brain copper about magistrates. Next we,ll have judge Winesap and CrackaLong working on how to figure out the charge at $400.00 an hour.
He crossed the line.
May 24, 2012 - 4:32pm — glolingerHe crossed the center line into oncoming traffic. That's illegal for anyone, period. Democrat, Republican, Independent, unregistered. Got nothing to do with politics at all. If you drive across the median or center line, hit oncoming traffic, and kill someone, unless there were extenuating circumstances, in NC you're in a heap of trouble with the law. Failure to maintain control of a vehicle resulting in death of another person. The extenuating circumstances, or not, will be worked out in court unless the police do not charge the driver. In this case they apparently did.
If Rep. Womble had been from
May 24, 2012 - 4:12pm — RootBoySlim66If Rep. Womble had been from the "other" party, the headline would have read "REPUBLICAN Rep. Womble faces misdemeanor death by vehicle charges."
into/in to
May 24, 2012 - 3:58pm — annerussellfunny! kinda hard for him to turn himself into an inanimate object.
Larry Womble
May 24, 2012 - 3:56pm — annerussellI am so sorry to read that Larry Womble has been charged in this manner, especially when the other driver was drunk as a skunk and Larry has not been charged with DUI. What is the rationale for this?
... to turn himself into the
May 24, 2012 - 3:51pm — bmack... to turn himself into the Forsyth County magistrate's office...
into - no
in to - yes