By Neale Gulley
Niagara Gazette
NORTH TONAWANDA —
Niagara County District Attorney Michael Violante won’t explain why he allowed the daughter of an elected official to avoid a DWI charge last week in a rare plea deal in North Tonawanda City Court.
In a statement released at noon Wednesday, Violante said the deal he brokered to allow Sara Donovan, daughter of Alderwoman Nancy Donovan, to plead guilty to two traffic tickets rather than an alcohol-related charge was in “the interest of justice.”
He offered little more in his first public comments during a week of intense media and public scrutiny over the handling of the case.
“I will not make it a practice to explain or justify my decisions to the press in regards to plea bargain offers made by this office,” he said. “However, I do not want the negative publicity of one case to overshadow the hard work and dedication of this office and all of the positive work done in the hundreds of cases handled on a daily basis.”
Sara E. Donovan, 23, was arrested by North Tonawanda police at 3:09 a.m. July 11, and charged with misdemeanor DWI and failure to maintain her lane. The incident occurred on Payne Avenue, where Donovan struck two parked cars on her way home from a bar. Her blood alcohol content was measured at 0.13 percent.
The deal struck between Violante, a Republican, and Donovan’s defense lawyer, former county GOP Chairman Henry Wojtaszek, included the traffic tickets, $280 in fines and also that Donovan, whose mother is also a Republican, attend a victim’s impact panel where she would confront victims and surviving family members of those who have been killed in DWI accidents.
Violante acknowledged the outcome may seem unusual to some but that his primary concern is residents’ safety and well being.
“Unfortunately, in the case of Sara Donovan, the fact that this young woman is the daughter of a public official is drawing more attention than it would if this case involved the average citizen,” Violante’s message continues.
“Plea offers such as the one involved in this case have occurred in the past and may very well occur in the future where a disposition outside the usual and common practices serve the interest of justice.”
Minority Leader Dennis Virtuoso, D-Niagara Falls, called for an investigation into Violante’s conduct at Tuesday’s meeting of the Niagara County Legislature.
“I’m personally offended by this because my nephew was killed by a drunk,” he said Wednesday prior to reading Violante’s statement. “I think personally there may have been political influence and I think that should be investigated. We fought for years to have tougher DWI laws and then something like this happens.”
Joining Virtuoso’s call for an investigation is Elizabeth Obad, president of the Erie County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
The deal has hit a nerve with many people who have personally been affected by drunken drivers or who have been convicted of the offense themselves, Obad said. And for many of them the issue goes well beyond Sara Donovan’s experience.
“It’s been very upsetting to hear about all of this,” Obad said. “It’s a good thing this came to light because this does happen and many times it doesn’t come to light.”
MADD commonly refers to DWI as a violent crime because of the threat it poses to public safety.
“It’s appalling that the judge would find this sentence appropriate,” she said, adding the resolution is an insult to the many victims and survivors of alcohol-related crashes. “She did get special treatment and it needs to be investigated.”
The state’s vehicle and traffic law clearly states plea deals to non alcohol-related charges are prohibited unless a district attorney finds the charge isn’t warranted. Some DWI experts have told the News that clause is usually meant to refer to problems with evidence or police tactics, but in Donovan’s case, City Court Judge William Lewis said prosecutors were worried a conviction could imperil her imminent licensing as a certified public accountant.
Obad is a regular member of the same Victim Impact Panel that Donovan has been required to attend. Typically, she said first-time offenders with no past arrests are allowed to plead down to driving while ability impaired, a lesser charge but one that still satisfies the section of the law regarding impaired driving pleas.
“I spoke to several DWI offenders last week,” Obad said. “They’re paying heavy fines. Many of them have professional jobs or licenses and lose that — they have marital and family problems. It is a violent crime and it should be treated as a violent crime. Fortunately she hit two parked cars. It could have been two people.”
And the legislative environment has never been less sympathetic to DWI offenders, either. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., joined Violante and other law enforcement officials in North Tonawanda just three days before Donovan’s arrest to tout a proposal to pump millions of dollars into anti-drunken driving devices for cars.
The state’s newly passed Leandra’s Law has already upgraded the crime of DWI with a child in the car to an automatic felony. On Aug. 15, a second aspect of the law will kick in to require alcohol-sensing equipment be installed in the vehicles of everyone convicted of misdemeanor DWI, at their own expense.
