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By CHARLES H. BOGINO; Times Leader Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 22, 1994 Page: 3A
WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County prosecutors said Monday they want to see
Caroline Hope Petrini spend at least six years in state prison for killing two
men she struck while driving drunk.
“(Petrini) should not get `two for the price of one,’ ” District Attorney
Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. and one of his assistants wrote in a memo to Luzerne
County Judge Joseph M. Augello, asking him not to impose concurrent sentences
for the two deaths.
“The incredible carnage and terrible loss of life due to the defendant’s
actions amply justify consecutive sentences for each conviction.”
Last month, a jury found Petrini, of Nanticoke, guilty of seven related
charges in connection with the deaths of Michael Holena, 40, and David Martin
Banks, 30, on Oct. 21 last year. Her sentencing is set for Dec. 19.
Petrini, a 26-year-old Wilkes University graduate, was driving along a
rain-slick Route 309 after a night out at several bars. Her blood-alcohol
level was nearly twice the legal limit, according to testimony from her trial.
Petrini’s lawyer, John P. Moses, contended road conditions, not Petrini’s
condition, were the major contributing factors to the accident.
One of the charges — homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence
— carries with it a mandatory three-year sentence.
In their memo, Olszewski and Assistant District Attorney Scott C. Gartley
argue that a mandatory three-year term should be given back to back for the
deaths.
That sentence also must be served in a state prison, rather than in the
Luzerne County Correctional Facility, because “the absolute lowest maximum
sentence to which (the) defendant could be sentenced is six years,” the
prosecutors wrote. A maximum sentence given to a defendant is usually at least
double that of a minimum.
Under state law, inmates must do their time in a state prison if their
maximum sentence is five years or more. Also, the six-year maximum makes
Petrini ineligible for motivational boot-camp programs, reserved for
non-violent offenders.
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