Martin receives prison time for probation violation

I am surprised that all of the supporters of Mr. Martin have not commented yet on this latest news. I went back to read the old comments from one of the other articles http://www.mountainhomenews.com/story/1616398.html.

I guess time is all it took. During this last hearing Mr. Martin asked not to go back to prison, indicating he had a family and he felt he could get treatment for his issues within the community.

I suppose the judge sent him a strong message, enough is enough and she pointed out he could form new bonds in prison and get treatment from IDOC.

Bring it all you supporters. I think the families have the last say this time.

I understand he kept blaming everything and everyone else for this incident, not himself. Still not taking responsibility for his actions. He should have thought about his family before he tried to escape the law. This time prison is the "real" prison, not Cottonwood or County jail. He is in for a real shocker. Karma. Ummmm.

...I am slightly acquainted with Mr. Martin, but know some other members of his family quite well. His actions have impacted them... especially his mother who was heartbroken by the incident... and again by his throwing away his chance to rejoin his family and society.

...Decades ago I served as a law enforcement officer. From what was presented in the press, the jury was correct in not being able to convict for murder or volutary homicide.

...However, he bears a strong moral and legal responsibility for what happened... as would the other driver had she survived and he had not. Alcohol not only led to aggressive driving, but to some seemingly not using seat belts which might have lowered the death toll...

...But once the dust settled, his self-centered lack of remorse added massive insult to severe injury. He feels bad about what happened... but almost entirely because of how it affects him... not the victims or even his own family.

...His mother's prayers seemed to be answered when he completed a court ordered course of incarceration and treatment... and was given probation... But then he threw it all away.

...Mr. Martin had some tough breaks growing up... but most people who do rise above it. He has had an endless number of chances to turn his life around... but treated each with no more attention than one would give to a casual birthday greeting.

...He asked not to be placed in prison for the sake of his family... but he had no problem violating his probation knowing exactly what the court could do to him. He either did not care or he did not believe that he would ever be held to account. He may have had so many chances that he thought that he was immune to consequences.

...I understand his mother's pain... but if he does not feel remorse for his actions... she does. As much as it hurts her to have her son sentenced to prison... at least she knows that he was given every chance in the world... And she knows that where he is... he won't get drunk or stoned behind the wheel and kill himself or others.

...I hope for his family's sake that suffering real consequences corrects his, "I'm different from everybody else, *I* feel pain..." attitude. He was not guilty of murder or voluntary homicide... but he massively contributed to the accident... and he is fully responsible for putting himself where he is now...

Dear JerryMyers,

I can understand a mother's grief over the actions of her son.

JerryMyers, I highly suggest you go back and look at Mr. Martin's other driving offenses in the Idaho Repository. Once you've done that you will be horrified by the pattern of recklessness spanning more than a decade.

As far as his charges (murder, manslaughter) vs. his Felony DUI conviction, I was there both times and the jury got hung up on one word. The word being significant. The jury wanted someone to quantify how much is significant. That my friend is a deficiency in the Idaho Code.

I'm happy with this latest outcome. I think this was long overdue.

The one thing that is still most unsettling is that we don't have any answers as to exactly what happened. So for over 5 years now, we have never received an accurate account of what really happened. Everyone involved in this case was too invested in covering their own behinds over telling the out and out truth. Do you know how insulting that is?

I value human life. I value the dead and the living. It is inhumane not to tell the truth in a situation like this. I understand, I get that Mr. Martin doesn't want to be locked up for the rest of his life. On the one hand, I value his life enough not to want his family to have to go through that.

However, when I found out how he ended up violating his probation... It was unfathomable that anyone who is normal and cares about his/her community and family would do what he did.

To add insult to injury, he indicated in court that his relationship with his wife was part of his current predicament. I don't know how true that is, but any person willing to blame his wife for something that he did is indicative of a person who has ABSOLUTELY NO moral compass.

Mr. Martin indicated he wanted to be a part of the Mountain Home community, blah, blah, blah. The judge did the right thing, she sent Mr. Martin a strong message that his choices and behaviors will not be tolerated.

And to his mother...she can still visit him above ground.

Dear Dawnepooh,

...I understand your anger and your frustration. I also understand that Mr. Martin had a very long history of getting in trouble and not taking personal responsibility for his actions. He has demonstrated that he belongs in prison, and his mother would be the first to agree with you... and I am sure that she would rather visit him in prison than wait to hear of his next crime... and maybe victims...

...However, having a history of drunken and reckless driving, while certainly grounds for locking someone in prison, is not proof in and of itself of intent to commit murder or voluntary homicide.

"The one thing that is still most unsettling is that we don't have any answers as to exactly what happened. So for over 5 years now, we have never received an accurate account of what really happened."

...In addition to having served in law enforcement I have also served on juries... the last time as foreman. Not knowing exactly what happened makes it hard for a jury to convict beyond a reasonable doubt on murder or voluntary homicide charges.

...Had it gone the other way... which it might easily have... and Martin died and the other driver survived... the other driver would have faced serious charges of reckless driving, and other charges resulting in one or more deaths.

... His guilt and responsibility are overwhelming... but it clouded the issue because the other driver was also indulging in reckless driving... This does not excuse Mr. Martin in the slightest, but it was not as clear cut for the jury as if it had been a driver minding their own business.

...However, the other driver lacked the long history of criminal, reckless and drunken behavior on the highway.

...I think that the prosecution, in dealing with Mr. Martin would have been better served going for the maximum on a conviction that they could actually achieve... possibly involutary manslaughter... They almost certainly could have gotten a conviction on that... and Mr. Martin would have gone straight to prison without passing GO...

...Going for far more may have satisfied the famlies of the victims... but in this case made it more likely that he would wind up convicted of a lesser charge and wind up on probation and be free to endanger the community again.

...And he did walk free... a walking time bomb... Fortunately he was caught violating his probation and cut his own throat before he could cause more wreckage and grief.

...When at last he comes up for parole, I hope that relatives of the victims are at the hearing... along with transcripts of all of his "excuses" and promises to various judges over many years... For I have no doubt that if he somehow manages to stay out of serious trouble in prison that he will put on an amazing song and dance about how he has "reformed" or found God...

...Just to clarify: I believe that had the original jury been given the option of involuntary manslaughter by the prosecution they probably would have gone with it.