Woman on Xanax kills 4 pedestrians: D.A. not prosecuting

[Bluebear]

Driver mowed over four people waiting at bus stop. "I don't understand what's going on with this case. They said she wasn't even able to walk, let alone drive. I don't see how they let her go free," Clara Guardado said. Her two daughters, 16-year-old Raquel Jimenez and 14-year-old Angelica Jimenez, died in the crash along with Reginald Williams, 16, and Samantha Gail Allen, 36.

Two of the victims:

Raquel Jimenez

Angelica Jimenez


County and state prosecutors on Friday defended their decisions not to charge a driver, Veronica Schmidt, who killed four pedestrians in March, saying several factors -- including the level of a prescription drug in the driver's system -- made the case unwinnable in court.

"I wish we could prosecute, but I don't think we could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that her impairment caused her to go off the road," Clark County prosecutor Bruce Nelson said, referring to Veronica Schmidt.

Schmidt, 34, had the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in her system when she passed out behind the wheel March 14 and crashed a Ford Explorer into a bus stop in northwest Las Vegas. Three teenagers and a woman were killed.

The level of Xanax in Schmidt's blood was 100 nanograms per milliliter.

A forensic toxicologist who reviewed Schmidt's case for the Las Vegas city attorney's office said that amount of Xanax was "very potent" and "very likely" played a major role in causing the crash. The prescription drug can cause drowsiness and impair motor skills, and patients generally are warned to avoid driving while taking it. Prosecutors, however, felt the drug level was not high enough to warrant charges....

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Aug-20-Sat-2005/news/27078939.html

Those levels, Kelly wrote, indicated Schmidt had been taking more than 10 milligrams of the drug each day.

Schmidt told police she took just 1 milligram each night to help her sleep.

In a statement written for the city attorney's office, Allen Flagg, vice president of Harmony Health Care, which treated Schmidt in 2003, wrote that Schmidt should not have been behind the wheel. "8-10 mg of Xanax to a person of this size or any size would absolutely be intoxicating and the person would certainly be in no condition to drive," he wrote.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Aug-19-Fri-2005/news/27074456.html

[Ilsa]

1. It makes no sense to me that she isn't prosecuted.

She would know how that much drug would affect her system, just as I would know where my limit is for alcohol or taking a prescription pain killer.

Someone please, straighten me out.

[jus_the_facts]

2. 10 milligrams is like 3x's more than anyone's prescribed for a day....

...she was fucked UP and killed people..there's NO excuse or reasoning to not prosecute her PERIOD...anyone on that much medication shouldn't be driving or even walking for that matter...insanity prevails. :crazy:

[Ilsa]

3. I know. Xanax is a real problem for dependency and

building tolerance. It got that way pretty quickly even back in the mid 1990's. The hospitals I've worked in keep it locked up and counted for each shift change because of the abuse.

[Richard Steele]

10. I have taken the stuff once...

Had to take a family trip via airplane,
so I got a zanax scrip to help deal with
going for hours without a cigarette. (heavy nicotine addict)

Each flight, I took HALF of what she had in her system,
and I guarantee you that I was not OK to drive.

And I'm 6 feet and 200 lbs.

[shadowknows69]

37. I've done my share of abusing substances

and I took 2 Xanax once and could barely speak much less remember my own name. definitely not a pill for outings in the car.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

4. Thou shalt not impinge upon the Pharmaceutical Industry n/t

[blondeatlast]

22. Unlike alcohol, the warning is right there on the package (assuming

it was obtained legally).

Deliberately ignoring the warning on top of the driving makes it absolutely negligent--or worse.

[Richard Steele]

5. This is frigging bizarre!

She had WAAY more in her system than she was prescribed to take...
And then she gets behind the wheel, kills 4 people, and NO charges are filed?

This is total bullshit.

TOTAL BULLSHIT.

And the reasons being given for not charging her are UTTERLY RIDICULOUS.

Obviously, the REAL story needs to be discovered.

Who is she, who are her friends and family...and who
among them has enough political clout
to make 4 DWI murder charges go "poof"?

She DID this; her actions and choices KILLED 4 people.
She needs to be held accountable.

[blondeatlast]

8. Contrast this with the blonde missing in Aruba.

The irony is horrendous...

[Cocoa]

6. "strong winds" caused the crash

The Nevada attorney general's office also considered the case, but Conrad Hafen, who leads the office's criminal division in Las Vegas, said strong winds could have played a role in Schmidt losing control of the vehicle.

[blondeatlast]

7. Can someone please explain to me how this isn't at least manslaughter?

I've been on Xanax; a lifesaver at the time, but FOUR would have rendered me absolutely a zombie.

If they resembled Natalee Hollaway, I bet the prosecutor would have found a way.

God bless that poor family. Insult to injury.

Shameful.

[Bluebear]

9. Thank you.

I'm sorry, I can't help but notice the four victims did not resemble Natalee. And Xanax is a wonder drug, it saved me at a time too. But this is at LEAST negligent homicide or manslaughter.

[blondeatlast]

13. Is this any different than tanking up on vodka and getting behind the whee

Methinks there is something more about the perpetrator (I sure as hell am not afraid to call her that even if the DA is) that we should know...

I'd fully expect to have my lily-white ass hauled off to jail if I even thought about taking even one more Xanax and walked along a public thouroughfare.

I am just boiling with this one... :mad:

[Bluebear]

15. You 'n me both. Here is the girl's dad.....

Humberto Jimenez, the girls' father, said he wants Schmidt only to show some remorse.

"I want her to realize what she did," he said. "She destroyed a family. Doesn't that count for anything?"

[faithnotgreed]

27. oh bluebear - how incredibly painful

and shameFULL that it "doesnt count for anything"

i dont think i should have looked at that
his eyes are pure pain

im so sorry mr jimenez

[Bluebear]

28. All the best to you fng

I am so terribly sorry for him.

[alarcojon]

35. White perp, victims of color

Thank you for pointing out what needs to be pointed out.

Insult to injury indeed.

[meow2u3]

11. Let me guess: the perp was white

:wtf:

[Bluebear]

12. Voila

[blondeatlast]

16. 10 mgs a DAY?! How the eff could she even freakin' WALK?

:mad::mad::mad:

[Bluebear]

17. High tolerance?

I am not normally Nancy Grace on these things, but it just stinks.

[Ilsa]

14. Exactly. I guess those poor dead girls' families donlt have

the political connections or money to raise some stinking shit over this. I really didn't want to believe it, but I think that is exactly what the deal is. I don't see how it isn't manslaughter either.

[leftofthedial]

18. but drink a glass of wine with dinner and get pulled over

for a burned-out tail light . . .

and your next stop is jail or detox.

[blondeatlast]

20. The Xanax bottle warns the user to be very careful driving on the

ordinary dose. Most of us know what a glass of wine will do to our driving ability, if we decide to continue drinking too much we should expect serious consequences if we drive and injure someone.

The warning is clear, she KNEW very well she should not be driving (it is impossible to convince me otherwise), and she killed 4 beautiful kids--and she walks the streets.

Un-fucking-beleivable. Or sadly, no it isn't.

[leftofthedial]

24. "expect serious consequences if we drive and injure someone"

you can expect for a DUI charge to cost you as much as $10,000 or more when all is said and done, with NO injuries.

it costs incredible amounts of time, court costs, fines, possible jail time, driver's license fees out the wazoo, more incredible amounts of time, expensive and time-consuming alcohol "education," and the stigma society imposes on it may cost you your job or your reputation.

the demonize drinking and driving industry has become a bazillion dollar business and has done little to solve the problem (which indeed seems to be getting worse and worse).

We need to revise drastically our societal approach to alcohol and transportation.

[blondeatlast]

29. I won't go off on that issue, I have a "friend" who spent 6 months in AZ's

Tent City for it and still hasn't learned not to, and he is a real danger on the road.

But do I see a remarkable difference here? Hell no, no difference whatsoever. One is no more or less dangerous than the other.

If she was wacked out on vodka, her ass would be in jail. There is no excuse for her not to be just because a doctor MIGHT have authorized it's therapeutic use (no doctor would knowingly prescribe the dose she was taking, either).

[leftofthedial]

32. no one would (sensibly) defend a chronic drunk driver

. . . but the system is not designed to solve a problem. It's a nearly perfect scam--people will always drink. In most places in Murka there is no reasonable way for those who do drink to get from point A to point B except by driving. Our country is still puritanical enough that those who break this law are perceived as sinners AND criminals, so many feel justified in stigmatizing them.

Voila! A perpetual supply of "bad guys," a system that can go on potentially forever without solving the root problem, an extremely lucrative revenue stream, statistics that are easy to spin and a cause that is easy to market. Cha-ching!

Vehicular homicide is a horrific crime. Being convicted of multiple DUIs is inexcusable. It is hideous to me that innocent people are endangered by drunk drivers. But the vast majority of those convicted based on ever-lowering blood alcohol levels are no threat to anyone.

the health care crisis in this country is a far, far worse problem. We need a new Mothers Against fad against the frigging insurance companies and HMOs.

[mtnester]

21. Same thing with a doobie

go to jail for life

This whole thing sucks....if you were exceeding the speed limit and killed someone stone cold sober, you get CHARGED with the crime. This woman is just walking free?

I pray some civil lawyer takes this case on and sues not only this woman, but the prosecutors office for dereliction of duty.

Sorry, I am not a "sue sue sue" person, but sometimes you just have to.

[Richard Steele]

30. Exactly! The DA's statements are utterly BIZARRE!

If anyone did this while SOBER, they would be facing charges...

But the DA seems to be saying that UNAUTHORIZED drugs in her system
make the case unwinnable? WTF?

(I say "unauthorized" because she was legally prescribed a MAXIMUM
of 4mg per day, but she was taking 10.)

This is like saying someone can't be held responsible for
a DUI...because they were DRUNK at the time.

We need more investigation here; someone with alot of POWER
is guilty of obstructing justice.

[blondeatlast]

31. Exactly; there is no logic here at all. As I mention downthread,

I have a weird feeling DA Nelson will be hearing from some high 6 figure attorney at Pfizer next week. We still may see this prosecuted.

There is no logic here whatsoever, for the reasons you mention.

[Solly Mack]

19. My ass would be under the jail if I had done something like that

[Catherine Vincent]

23. If they won't prosecute, then the makers of xanax better

get ready to be sued to the hilt by the family members of those people. This is ridiculous!

[blondeatlast]

26. Any guesses as to whether Pfizer will be taking a particular interest

in the career of DA Nelson?

I expect calls to be placed from some extremely well-paid attorneys...

I've needed Xanax, it helped, I was extremely careful to avoid tolerance and addiction, and I've been free of it for years.

This woman is a murderer, plain and simple, and the DA's office is complicit.

[Bluebear]

33. Nelson must be bucking for higher GOP-dom. nt

[kodi]

25. thatr woman was doing that xanax much to catch a buzz.

i have met several people who take it to get stoned. they look and act like a cat on catnip.

i hope the deceased's family hauls that killer into civil court and has to pay the family 1/2 of everything she earns for the rest of her life

[alarcojon]

34. I agree

She was either using it recreationally or was abusing it. Possibly even a suicide attempt, I suppose.

Most users of Xanax use it responsibly, but apparently not all.

This really pisses me off.

[alarcojon]

36. I can't make heads or tails of this

One "huge stumbling block" was the lead crash investigator's belief that Schmidt was not impaired at the time of the crash, Nelson said.

Prosecutors would have a hard time overcoming that, especially since Detective Bill Redfairn is a drug recognition expert who teaches classes for police agencies in Southern Nevada, Nelson said.

Roger said Redfairn based his opinion on Schmidt's behavior at the crash scene.

Following the crash, Schmidt was taken to the jail to have her blood drawn. When officers returned her to the location of the accident Redfairn believed that Schmidt "appeared to be normal," Roger said.

So she didn't seem impaired and there were no charges? Someone help me out here.