A story that was lost, at least by me, in the ether of the holidays was the tragic death of Delaware City firefighter Michelle Smith on December 22, 2008 as a result of a car hitting her while she tended to another man who was injured in another accident. The details are more sinister than I describe:
[Joseph M. Taye Jr., 28, of Bear,] allegedly was at the wheel of a 2004 BMW on Dec. 20, driving at a high rate of speed southbound on U.S. 13, when he sideswiped a marked county police car stationed at the scene of a motorcycle accident [motorcyclist Edward Reiss, 30, of New Castle,] was involved in, lost control of the car and plowed into Reiss and [firefighter Michelle] Smith, who was on the ground attending to Reiss’ injuries.
Taye then reportedly pulled the BMW, owned by his girlfriend, to a stop on the right shoulder of the highway beyond the crash site, where a light-colored Honda pulled up next to him. A passenger in the Honda allegedly pulled Taye, who is paraplegic, out of his car and put him in the Honda, which then sped away from the scene, police say.
Detectives are still searching for the Honda and the people in it. Smith, a volunteer firefighter for Delaware City and Volunteer Hose Company of Middletown, was taken to Christiana Hospital, where she died two days later of her injuries..
Taye was apprended after his hit and run and originally charged with manslaughter for the death of Smith and second degree assault for the injuries the biker received. But last week, those charges were increased to first degree murder and first degree assault, respectively, by the State Attorney General’s office. The reason given by the AG’s office for upgrading the charges? Corporal Gary Fournier, the DE State Police spokesman, says they were upgraded because Smith was “performing her official duty.”
That makes no sense at all. First, the status of the victim is an aggravating factor to consider in sentencing, not in the original charges. Indeed, the difference between first degree murder and manslaughter is not the status of the victim, but rather the intent of the charged. First degree murder is murder with intent and malice aforethought. Smith being a firefighter does not raise Taye’s intent.
Second, the assault charge on the biker injured in the hit and run were also raised from second degree to first degree. But the AG’s reasoning for the increase cannot be applicable here, since Reiss, the biker, was not performing any official duties. He had no official duties to perform. He is not a firefighter. He is not an EMT. He is not a policeman. He is a biker who wiped out on Route 13. He had already performed his duty prior to the hit and run. So this accompanying increase of the degree on the assault charge reveals it all to be bullshit. The book is being thrown at Mr. Taye, but the state has no legal reason for it.
Don’t get me wrong, what Mr. Taye did was horrible, and his actions resulted in the death of one of our public servants and he should pay the price. The appropriate price, however, is manslaughter charges, or, at most, second degree murder (for he was showing a reckless indifference for human life driving a car while paralyzed from the waist down).