ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 14, 1996 TAG: 9608140048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A state appeals court threw out a child endangerment conviction against a mother who was drunk when she crashed her car, seriously injuring her 6-week-old son.
The Virginia Court of Appeals said Tuesday the child endangerment law was properly applied in Vicki Mosby's case but it reversed her conviction because the trial judge gave improper jury instructions.
A Chesterfield County Circuit Court jury convicted Mosby in May 1995 and recommended that she serve 18 months in jail. Judge William R. Shelton imposed the sentence the next month.
Mosby and her son, George, were injured May 23, 1994, when her car veered off a road and crashed into a house. The baby was tossed from an infant carrier and suffered a broken leg and head injuries. His mother had severe facial and internal injuries.
Police said Mosby was driving with a blood-alcohol content more than twice the limit at which a driver is presumed drunk. She also failed to strap her son into an approved child safety seat as required by law, they said.
Her attorney, Margaret Englisby, argued that Mosby needed treatment for alcoholism rather than prison.
LENGTH: Short : 33 linesby CNB