Whoops! A drunk-driving killer will get out of prison early due to a judicial oversight.
Glenn Paulk Jr killed Ronald Threatt in 2008, leaving Threatt's three children fatherless. Paulk's blood alcohol limit was nearly three times the limit, according to the CC Times.
He was sentenced to just six years in prison, but for some reason he was led to believe that he would only have to serve three. After a flurry of confusion, his sentence was abridged, and he'll be released later this year.
The judge in the case apologized to the family of the killed man, saying that she should have caught the error earlier. Had he been properly sentenced, he would have stayed in prison until 2012.
But that's still not much time to serve for having killed a person. Courts have an inexplicable tolerance for manslaughter when cars are the instrument of death.
Meanwhile, police are investigating a grisly crash in Moss Landing, near Santa Cruz. A pickup truck was crossing some train tracks when an Amtrak train slammed into it at 50 mph, killing both occupants.
Officials are not sure if the driver was aware of the train. There were alcohol containers thrown from the wreck, according to press reports.
About 17,000 people die in drunk-driving related accidents every year.
