Newport
Amber King, 37, pleaded guilty on Friday in Sullivan County Superior Court to negligent homicide and second-degree assault, both felony charges.
Through a statement read by her public defender, Jennifer Cohen, King expressed remorse for her actions.
“I have learned a lesson. I can’t change what happened, I can only try and change the future,” King said. “I pray every day for Amanda” Grasso, the passenger killed in the accident.
King also said she has sought help for her drug use, which police and prosecutors say was a factor in the April 23, 2016, crash in Claremont.
Police said King was driving east on Route 103 at a speed that at one point exceeded 90 mph when her vehicle crossed into the westbound lane near Tractor Supply, hit an embankment, rolled over and came to rest on its roof back in the eastbound lane. Grasso, a 32-year-old Goshen, N.H., resident, was ejected from the vehicle and died from blunt force trauma.
Another passenger, Jody Metcalf, also was ejected and suffered serious injuries, including a fractured skull and spine and brain bleeding. King’s husband, Jacob, who attended the hearing, was the fourth passenger in the vehicle; he also suffered injuries.
Officials contend King inhaled an aerosol cleaner sometimes used for its intoxicating effects, and used other substances that day and in the preceding days, including heroin.
Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway sought an overall sentence of six to 15 years, while Cohen argued for two to five years.
Judge Brian Tucker said he picked a sentence that was in King’s “favor,” factoring in that she accepted responsibility for her actions, that she doesn’t have a criminal history and that she has “an issue with opiates … which in one sense I think is a mitigating factor.”
Hathaway took issue with the latter part of that statement, saying addiction shouldn’t be used as an excuse to explain the consequences of one’s actions.
“That is articulating a public policy decision that I think is ill considered,” Hathaway said after the hearing. “I fundamentally believe taking a public policy position that opioid addiction is a mitigating factor in a case where there is a dead woman and a seriously injured woman does not bode well for New Hampshire’s ability to protect itself and this community’s ability to protect itself from the conduct that people engage in while under the effects of opioids or other addictive drugs.”
The issue arose in court on Friday when Hathaway referenced another case with similar facts to demonstrate why he believed his sentence recommendation for King’s case was fair. One of the cases involved alcohol instead of drugs.
“Does that matter if Ms. King is a drug addict?” Tucker asked Hathaway, saying drug addiction is generally considered a “disease of the brain.”
“Does that differentiate her case (from the one involving alcohol),” Tucker continued.
“Not in the state’s opinion, your honor,” Hathaway said. “Society must treat (opioid use) as a choice.
“I do not believe that society should treat those who are driving and causing death or serious bodily injury under drugs any less aggressively than we treat those who are driving impaired because of (alcohol.)”
King ultimately received a 3½- to seven-year sentence on the negligent homicide charge and a concurrent two- to five-year sentence on the second-degree assault charge. The state dismissed her two counts of aggravated driving under the influence. She faced up to 15 years for negligent homicide.
In arguing for leniency, Cohen called her client a “doctor-made” addict. King suffered a stroke at a young age and has a painful condition where her arm will dislocate from her shoulder, so her doctor started prescribing her opiates, the lawyer said.
“When she was unable to get those, she turned to street drugs,” Cohen said.
Because of her battle with addiction, she experienced homelessness, poverty and temporarily lost custody of her two children, who now are teenagers, Cohen said.
Cohen said the Kings had gotten their lives back on track in spring 2016, but on April 23 of that year, when the Kings got their tax refund check, they met up with Metcalf and Grasso and bought and used drugs, Cohen said.
“Any of the four of these folks could have been driving, but Amber was the one with a license,” Cohen said.
Hathaway also took issue with Cohen’s “doctor-made” addict statement.
“There is not a doctor that I am aware of … which prescribes (the inhalant) DFE. Marijuana is not something that is lawfully prescribed. Heroin is not something you get from a prescription either,” Hathaway said.
There were no victim impact statements given. Hathaway said Grasso’s family and Metcalf and her family supported the state’s sentencing recommendation.
Jacob King said April 23 was a dark day for him and his wife as they both relapsed after a period of being sober. However, they have since accepted responsibility and changed their outlook on life.
“There were a lot of mistakes that were made that day,” he said after the hearing. “I love my wife. She is a good person. … Is it fair that my wife has to serve three (and a half) years? No. But is it fair that what we did that day did cause a death? No.”
He continued: “I wouldn’t say it is fair to anyone. No one is getting off easy here. She understands she made bad choices that day … that is why she pled guilty.”
Jacob King questioned why the law puts the majority of the blame on the driver, when each occupant willingly got inside the vehicle that day. Perhaps the law should be re-examined, he said.
“When you are in that kind of an environment and you just went and got drugs and you knowingly saw that person take them, some of that weight needs to be lifted off,” King said. “We should all have been responsible for our own actions. … It’s all on Amber now.”
Jacob King said he and the couple’s two children plan to move to Texas, where he and his wife met, until his wife is released from prison.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.
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Posted at 12:05 p.m Friday. Updated at midnight on Saturday.