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A border between 'accident' and prison

By HOWARD TROXLER
Published February 6, 2007

Edgar Monzon, a carpenter, was driving his company's van to work early one morning. He didn't see that the pickup truck in front of him had slowed down to turn.

Monzon ran into the back of the pickup. Unfortunately, a 17-year-old high school junior was riding in the bed of the truck, while friends rode in the cab. The youth, Erik Elfering, was killed.

The crash occurred on April 20, 2005, in Bradenton. Although it resulted in a tragic loss of life, in ordinary circumstances it might have been ruled an accident, not a crime.

But there was a complicating factor. Monzon, then 36, did not have a driver's license.

Driving without a license and having a crash that kills someone is a felony in Florida.

Although Monzon had no previous record, Florida's sentencing guidelines called for 7 1/2 years in prison, which is what he got.

In a ruling last month, the 2nd District Court of Appeal, which covers this part of Florida, upheld the conviction and sentence with the one-word ruling it uses when it has nothing else to say:

"Affirmed."

* * *

The reason Monzon did not have a Florida driver's license was that he was not a legal resident of the United States.

It is a familiar Catch-22 for people here illegally: If you comply with the rules of society, such as getting a driver's license, you risk getting caught and sent home.

Monzon's status led to an interesting commentary by one of the 2nd District judges, Chris W. Altenbernd. Although he concurred with the court's decision, he wrote a separate opinion.

"If Mr. Monzon had lost his license because he was a drunk or a bad driver, I would have no sympathy for him in this case," Altenbernd wrote.

But Monzon was otherwise a responsible man, the judge wrote. He came here 15 years ago from Guatemala, had a wife and two children, and supported his family back home as well. He had numerous character witnesses.

"If he had attempted to apply for a Florida driver's license in this age of heightened terrorist security, he may have risked deportation," the judge wrote. "Ironically, because he had no license and risked deportation, he had reason to drive more carefully than other drivers."

Altenbernd said he was mindful of the death of "a good, young man." But in any other case it would have been only a tragic accident. Now, Altenbernd wrote, Florida taxpayers will spend up to $150,000 to keep "a good carpenter and a good husband" imprisoned.

"The Legislature ought to consider an amendment that fine-tunes these statutes," Altenbernd wrote.

* * *

The morality behind a law punishing nonlicensed drivers in fatal accidents, it seems, is based in the fact that such drivers usually lost their license because of past failings.

In this case, Monzon did not have a license because he was not supposed to be issued one as an illegal resident. That made the difference between a noncriminal citation, and 7 1/2 years.

I would have deported Monzon, not sent him to prison, once his illegal status came to light. I also would make Florida law more narrow, targeting only those who lose their license, then drive anyway and cause a fatality.

But, I suspect, some people might disagree.

[Last modified February 6, 2007, 06:01:42]