Pitt Receives Three Months, Bailed On Appeal
Tracey Pitt, 51, was sentenced to three months imprisonment today [Sept 20] when she appeared in Supreme Court for sentencing, however was released on bail pending an appeal.
Ms Pitt was found guilty of seriously injuring twin brothers Rudolph and Randolph Smith in an early hours traffic accident on 29th January 2012. They were walking home when they were struck by Ms Pitt. Neither recalled what happened, however both sustained serious injuries, with one brother spending weeks in a coma.
In a hearing earlier this week the Crown presented its arguments and recommended an immediate custodial sentence between 9 and 18 months.
After the Crown’s submission, defence lawyer Victoria Pearman told Justice Juan Wolffe called several character witnesses — including Auditor-General Ms Heather Jacob-Matthews — and said Ms Pitt was a CPA with a 23 year professional work record.
Lawyer Elizabeth Christopher asked for a noncustodial sentence, saying the action was a result of a momentary lapse of judgement and that there was no criminal intent. Ms Christopher said that Ms Pitt has already spent time in jail and that a conviction and imprisonment will have serious consequences on her professional career.
Acting Justice Juan Wolffe sentenced Ms Pitt to three months, and then released her on $20,000 bail pending the outcome of an immediate appeal.
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Three months for causing almost death to these young men. Hold your heads up Brothers as the Lord is not finished as yet.
They were rolling around in the street. I’m not saying it was their fault but you don’t get run down inside your house.
What about the white lady who struck and killed six year old Tyaisha Cox! What penalty did she receive for causing the DEATH of that little girl who was on a pedestrian crossing?
I agree that lady who killed young Tyaisha, should have served time !!!!! but she had Saul Fromkin as her lawyer ….
I can not remember who that lady was….do any of you remember her name ?
Melanie Wedgwood.
Found not guilty, but drove the car that took the life of Tyaisha Cox.
I’m sure that both her and The Cox family have to live daily with the events of that day.
Did Melanie Wedgwood, have a current drivers license at the time of this tragic accident?
Yes – but does it matter?
She wasn’t drunk and/or under the influence of alcohol. She made an error in judgement by overtaking a bus – something I see happen EVERY day in Bermuda.
What about that white woman that was jailed approx 3 years back for drink driving that was sentenced to (I think) 6 months to a year and who lost her job at TBI?
“She made an error in judgement by overtaking a bus – something I see happen EVERY day in Bermuda.”
This is not an error of judgement this is reckless driving especially in this case when the child was on a crosswalk. We have many selfish drivers in Bermuda that don’t deserve the privilege of having a license. BPS, DPP & the judges failure to catch & properly try & convict these offenders makes Bermuda a dangerous place for pedestrians. People rant & rave about the shootings here & how they affect tourism but the outright fact is tourist have far more chances of being killed by a vehicle than a gun here.
I agree concerned very distasteful if the shoe was on the other foot!!!Lordy Lordy
goin drinkin 2nite
mowin people down
luv bda
She should automatically be convicted for drinking & driving by default of her refusing to take the breath analyzer.
You can’t, with the new amendment the best thing you can do is refuse the breath test. If you are drunk you are going off the road anyway so don’t take the test and they can’t convict you of drunk driving. I don’t agree with the new amendment and our laws seem to have a way of making people find loopholes in their best interest (ie. Not taking the breath test to avoid the charge of drunk driving). Is this what our laws should be doing? Or making people stand up and be accountable for their actions. This is what happens when you try and rush a piece of legislation to appease the public.
She didn’t “avoid the charge” of DUI. She was charged, tried, and found not guilty of it.
Wasn’t referring to her specifically I’m just saying they cannot charge you for being drunk if you refuse the test.
They can and did charge her for being drunk. She was tried in court, the evidence was presented, and she was not guilty.
“She was tried in court, the evidence was presented”
The evidence would have been the alcohol test she refuse to take hence there was no proper evidence to present because of her obstruction of justice.
The court heard all sorts of evidence, for example from police and other witnesses. The case was made by the prosecution.
You keep trying to assert the guilt of the woman, but a jury who heard all the evidence found her not guilty.
You, on the other hand, sit there in your underpants in front of your computer, making things up out of thin air.
She did not get off all charges just some because of lack of evidence. Thats why she has filed an appeal & has been released on bail.
You’re the one making up things like me being in my underwear when truly I had my birthday suit on to save on A/C usage.
She didn’t avoid the charge but she did avoid the conviction by not taking the test. If there was a loophole that allowed a person to refuse to take fingerprints & a murderer used this so they wouldn’t be matched to the weapon they used would you condone this also?
Who’s condoning anything? She was tried in court for DUI and found not guilty. That’s just a fact. The court found her not guilty of DUI.
Just because the court comes to a conclusion it doesn’t mean its a fact. We have pedophiles & murderers walking free because of our courts findings.
Actually, the system we have is that the jury does determine the facts. And the jury determined she is not guilty.
This isn”t an open and shut case where the facts are obvious. Lots of people do go out, have two drinks, and legally drive home. It happens all the time. The two men were, in fact, by their own admission, horsing around and laying in the road. At 2.30am, on a dark road.
The fact that she hit the men was never in doubt. But to lay the blame solely with her is wrong. She is not guilty of DUI, so she was legally driving along, and hit two men laying down on a dark road. Those are the proven facts, as found in court by a jury after a long trial.
“This isn”t an open and shut case where the facts are obvious.”
Obviously they’re not obvious when the defendant refuses to give evidence. How can innocence of DUI be proven if there is no test to do so? Refusing to take the test only proves one thing.
Also the brothers never admitted to horsing around instead they said they were having a conversation about an upcoming football game.
Where are you getting your fabrications from? Read the report instead of coming up with this hogwash.
Is running people over and dragging them down the road while under the influence of the standard “I only had two drinks” lie, not enough to threaten ones career(in government)? Probably not since the defense asserts it would take a conviction. Anyway people please don’t operate a vehicle if you have had even only two drinks.
Girl just do your 3 months and get it over with. Why prolong it? Taking into consideration time already spent you would be out in a month, if that. Your actions caused injury, wine or no wine. You’re only gonna stress yourself out more thinking about the appeal and going back to jail.
One good thing is you could start your job search early while your out on bail. Get those work and character references rolling in.
Good luck to you.
They were laying down in the road, in the dark, at night. And she was tried in court for the allegation of DUI and found not guilty. The people who caused the accident were the guys laying down in the road at night.
How do you know they were laying in the road?!?! You’re going to take the word of someone who is convicted of dragging not one but two people under a vehicle & then refuses to take a breathalyzer? Too much of this crap happens in Bermuda & you want to put the blame on the victims. The only reason she was found not guilty of DUI is because she refuse to take the test which I bet my bottom dollar would have have changed the verdict. The BS loopholes in the laws here are the reason criminals feel free to do whatever they feel.
I know they were laying in the road because that was established as a fact in court.
So they were fooling around laying in a dark road at 2.30am. They certainly share the blame for causing the accident.
It was never found as a fact & I challenge you to reference any part of the reported proceedings that states different. The only one who says they were laying in the road is the defendant who claims also to not have been able to avoid them because she says she didn’t see them. Her inconstancy in her story shows she is falsifying this.
By the wat Tommy, it wasn’t a “loophole”. She was tried in court and the jury found her not guilty. That’s not a loophole, that’s a finding of fact.
Finding someone not guilty for something they intentionally bias the evidence of must be a loophole because in any other international court this would be concidered obstruction of justice.
Tommy, you’re talking s***. The same standard applies in almost all legal systems. You have no idea what you’re talking about, as per usual.
WROOOONG!
You’re the one who has mastered the art of excremental typing.
When you hit a pedestrian in America you cannot refuse to take a breathalyser because the police will immediately file for a court order for you to do so & if you still refuse you get charged with obstruction of justice which will land you years of imprisonment. Just google detective Kevin Spellman who was sentenced three to nine years imprisonment despite trying to refuse a breathalyser. No ones immune in the states & even the police cannot skirt around the law like this lady can in our backwards laws system.
ONLY IN BBERMUDA.
IN the US she would be looking at 5 years. How do you not see two people in the road like the other people that drove by saw them. She concocted her story and didnt prove if she was drunk or not and she will only have spent a week in prison. She should be able to see a small animal in the road with your car head lights..
The sad thing here and this is in no way an attack on the Ms. Pitt but in reality when does law become law, I don’t have folk jumping up and down on my behalf as an average Bermudian and it seems as if when you break the law, if you have the right folk representing or standing on your behalf then justice is never served.
Then on the other hand you are a so called nobody you get the book thrown at you. I was not there and neither was any of the bloggers, so this is our opinions based on that which we read, but let the law reflect what sentence needs to be served, the sad part is that this young lady could very well be out of a career that she gave so much to and that is a travesty to me.
She did not plan the events that took place but it has happen and these young brothers were serious hurt in the process, it has to be a balance some were.
This sounds like a simple case of alcohol on both sides its just a case of the legal liquid doing its job what more do you want people. We know it kills but yet its Legal blame ourselves… #Freethecannabis
I definitely agree that this was a case of Alcohol being in everyone’s system. Only they know how much. Thank God all are still alive to tell the story. This is certainly going to be a learning lesson to all involved and to a lot of young people that do skylark while intoxicated and too a huge amount of people who think they can still drive and make sensible decisions while only having drank only two drinks. I hope all recover fully mentally and physically.
I just don’t see me being the mens age conducting myself in such a manner . I just cannot blame her drunk or not. If they were acting as grown men should at that location that hour there would have been no or not that accident. Free the womans mind people. Where was their mind at the time?
Get your facts correct before you make allegations . They were NOT lying down in the road
Think about the stress and pain that has been caused with these young man and their families . Operations, Medical bills, and living with injuries for the rest of their life