A car veers off the road killing one of its passengers.  The driver had been lawfully taking anti-anxiety medication. The blood result shows a trace amount of her lawful medication. She was charged with negligent homicide and plead guilty to the penalty and served five years probation.  Cases like this are common, right? Well, actually they are not. Most of the time when DUID cases or negligent homicide is charged in a driving situation, the convicted do hard time, sometimes years.  So what is different about the case of Candice Anderson?  The difference is that she was 100% innocent.

Texas woman blamed in fiance’s death learns GM defect caused crash

DETROIT — On Thursday, General Motors will make public the results of its own investigation of how it responded to a deadly defect — specifically, why it waited more than a decade to recall 2.6 million small cars with faulty ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths.

Mikale Erickson, the father of two young children, died in November 2004 while riding in a Saturn Ion in Canton, Texas, when the car went off the road in the middle of the day. His fiancee, Candice Anderson, was driving.

There were no skid marks and no obvious cause. The airbags did not deploy.

Anderson was thrown through the windshield and barely survived.

Anderson had a trace amount of anti-anxiety medication in her system, but no other drugs or alcohol. She was charged with manslaughter, and pleaded guilty to criminal negligent homicide.

She told CBS News, “…it’s been a question if I was at fault for his death, and I’ve carried it for so long.” As a convicted felon living in a small town, she said, “every part of my life’s been affected from it.”

In late May, Anderson learned Mikale’s death was one of the 13 GM has linked to a faulty ignition switch. Mikale’s mother, Rhonda Erickson, contacted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and they confirmed it in a letter.

Erickson said GM has not been in contact with her. She told CBS News, “I think they owe me an apology. They can’t give me my son back. But, I mean, they could at least give me an apology.”

Erickson believes since the car was defective, Anderson’s record should be cleared. They are both hoping to get more answers from GM’s internal investigation.

Not everyone who is accused of a crime is guilty.  There has to be a critical look at the evidence to ensure innocent people are not convicted of crimes.

Justin McShane

PA DUI attorney Justin J. McShane is the President/CEO of The McShane Firm, LLC - Pennsylvania's top criminal law and DUI law firm. He is the highest rated DUI attorney in PA as rated by Avvo.com. Justin McShane is a double Board certified attorney. He is the first and so far the only Pennsylvania attorney to achieve American Bar Association recognized board certification in DUI defense from the National College for DUI Defense, Inc. He is also a Board Certified Criminal Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Approved Agency.