Criminal Justice

Substance abuse counselor gets 55 years to life after driving with dying man on windshield

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Convicted of second-degree murder for driving under the influence with a dying man on her windshield, a 53-year-old California substance abuse counselor was sentenced Thursday to 55 years to life in prison.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Henry Hall sentenced Sherri Lynn Wilkins under the state’s three-strikes law, tripling the minimum 15-year-to-life term she otherwise might have received, the Associated Press reports.

The prosecution said Wilkins had a blood-alcohol level of nearly twice the legal limit when she struck Phillip Moreno, 31, as she was leaving a counseling center in November 2012. She drove for 2 miles in Torrance with Moreno on her windshield before she was stopped by other motorists who blocked her vehicle from moving at a traffic light, the article says.

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