'There are no winners'
July 1, 2010
By DENISE CROSBY dcrosby@stmedianetwork.com
Column: In the end, the trial that revolved around choices came down to some very tough ones that had to be made by that Kendall County jury of 12.
I say "tough" because, despite the evidence that seemed to point so directly to the guilt of Sandra Vasquez -- a blood alcohol test and her own admission she was speeding at the time of the crash -- it took almost 12 hours of deliberations.
Tough, because even as the guilty verdicts were read amid sobs from the defendant's loved ones, some of the women on the jury shed tears of their own.
Tough, because none of them wanted to speak to the press, or to the attorneys, after they were dismissed by the judge.
Tough, because after five grueling days of testimony it would be hard for any human being not to be drained, and torn, by the emotional tug of this trial.
Even for the victims' families, hearing the verdict, watching its impact on the defendant and her family, was hard to watch.
"I am a mother," said the aunt of Tiffany Urso, one of the five teens killed in the car Vasquez was driving when it flew off Route 31 and hit a pole in the early hours of Feb. 11, 2007. "I feel for them ... they are hurting just like we are hurting."
Defense attorney Kathleen Colton summed it all up in just four words when she presented her closing arguments to the jury the previous day: No matter what the verdict, "there are no winners."
Colton maintained her professional demeanor outside the courtroom on Wednesday after Vasquez was taken into custody, as she faced the swarm of media and talked about the appeal she would soon file on her client's behalf. But she later admitted she was hurting -- big time.
"It was very heart-wrenching for me personally," she said. "I've had death penalty cases easier than this."
It's obvious much of her sentiment comes from the fact she genuinely "liked my client." But it's the uniquely compelling circumstances surrounding this case that makes it so difficult to wrap your head around.
Sandra Vasquez could be sentenced to as much as 28 years in prison because she was trying to help a bunch of underage kids get home to their parents who didn't know they were out drinking and partying.
"Hell is full of people with good intentions," Assistant State's Attorney Mike Reidy said in his rebuttal to Colton's closing argument on Tuesday.
With all due respect to Reidy, who represented the state admirably throughout the trial, I choose to believe hell is full of evil people ... and that those of us who have the best of intentions but make bad, even tragic mistakes can find forgiveness, and hopefully redemption, from the only judge who, in the end, really counts.
Fortunately -- or unfortunately, depending on your point of view -- man's rules and God's rules do not always match up.
"It's sad for me," said Donna Dwyer, whose 17-year-old son, Matt Frank, died in the crash, when she was asked about the visible pain of Vasquez's family and friends. But, she added, "I wanted her to be held responsible."
And that leads to what is perhaps the most gut-wrenching component of this case. Both sides of the courtroom lost so much on Feb. 11, 2007. Too many kids died. Too many more lives were destroyed.
Yet, even amid the carnage left behind by that perfect storm of really bad choices, there has to be lessons learned from it all.
Tiffany Urso's grandfather, who had to identify the teen at the coroner's office, says even though he didn't drink all that much before the accident, he never touches a drop of alcohol now.
"You just never know when you'll have to get behind the wheel of a car," he said.
He is a wise man. The problem is, those who have the most to learn are not paying all that much attention.
Kids are still getting high every weekend in every town across all our communities, while parents sit home clueless or, even worse, in full support.
People of all ages are still drinking booze and getting into cars. They are still speeding, still overloading vehicles. Still making stupid choices that will, given time, claim more victims, destroy more lives.
That's the frustration so evident in Colton's voice as she spoke to the press after the verdict was read, and as her client was allowed one final phone call to her own children before being transported to the Kendall County jail.
Although Colton finds no fault with the jury, who she believes was torn by the tough decisions they had to make, she plans to ask the judge for probation because of the "extraordinary circumstances" of the case.
"It will be a travesty of justice," she said, "if she goes to prison."
For those on the other side of the aisle, however, the verdict provided at least a hint of closure.
"We lost ourselves for a little while," said Urso's aunt. "But we'll find our way again."
