De Pere woman gets jail time for elderly woman's death By Jessica La Plante News-Chronicle Brimming with tears and apologies at a sentencing hearing Tuesday, a 49-year-old De Pere woman accused of causing a crash that claimed an elderly woman's life asked the victim's family for forgiveness. Convicted of homicide by negligent operation of a motor vehicle, Janice Hall was ordered to serve one year in jail and five years on probation by Brown County Circuit Court Judge Kendall Kelley. Hall said she is acutely aware of the pain she caused 74-year-old Emie Hauser's family, whom Hall found out she was related to during court proceedings. She plead guilty to the charge of vehicular homicide. She said she couldn't "remember much about the accident," and only learned about the crash's fatal outcome through court proceedings. "I was horrified to find out that I caused the death of another human being," Hall said. "It was worse to find out that she was related to my own granddaughter." According to a criminal complaint, Hall ran a stop sign at the Hobart intersection of South Pine Tree Road and Fernando Drive in August 2002. Because Hall did not yield to cross-traffic, the victim hit Hall's Chevrolet Blazer, the complaint said. Although an emergency physician who was passing through the area stopped to assist the elderly driver, she was pronounced dead by the time rescue workers arrived. A death certificate listed the cause of death as severe chest trauma resulting from a motor vehicle crash. The victim was not wearing a seat belt. In addition to vehicular homicide, Hall was charged with possessing marijuana, a misdemeanor crime that was reduced to an ordinance violation through plea bargaining. According to the same complaint, Hall admitted to smoking marijuana and taking pain killers several hours before the crash. At the time, she was being treated for a back injury. Prosecutors argued that Hall should spend nine months in jail. "She went through that intersection at 22 miles per hour on a road she traveled quite frequently, so she knew there was a stop sign," said Assistant District Attorney David Lasee. Asking the judge to impose probation, defense attorney Shane Brabazon said jail would be a punishment without any rehabilitative purpose in this case. "You use jail as a deterrent," Brabazon said. "It seems strange to try to use jail as a deterrent for something that's an accident." Brabazon called two character witnesses to testify, attempting to show the court Hall has already paid for the crash in psychological anguish. A long-time family friend of the defendant, Christine Curtis, said Hall has become chronically "sad and depressed" since the accident. Curtis begged the judge to have sympathy on a woman she regarded as a mother figure. "She's a very good person," Curtis said. "I know she didn't mean to do this ... I don't think you should be too hard on her because she's got a family, too." Hall's employer - Ray Hoffman - testified that Hall was a victim of the crash, too. "She's a very caring person," Hoffman said. "I know it has affected her at work ... (and) anyone of us could be sitting in her spot right now." Mary Hauser, a daughter of the deceased driver, reminded the judge in a victim impact statement that the accident injured her entire family. "I miss very much the calls home to my mother to tell her about my life and to find out what's happening with the family in Wisconsin," Mary Hauser wrote. "I feel Janice will have to live with this for the rest of her life. She needs to do some jail time with a long probation (period) and frequent drug testing during the probation." Before issuing the sentence, Kelley discussed past cases involving negligent driving and some form of substance abuse. He said the question wasn't whether Hall should get jail time, but whether she should get prison time. The conditions of her probation include paying victim restitution and obtaining a drug and alcohol assessment. Even though drug abuse was not considered an official factor in the crash, Kelley said he was concerned byHall's previous drunken driving conviction, as well as her use of marijuana and pain killers. Kelley said Hall would only get her driving privileges back after getting car insurance and the approval of her probation agent.