`nutcracker' Enlivens The Holiday

Alex Wrobleski 
Dec. 17, 1994 
Alex A. Wrobleski, 73, Of North Gates Avenue, Kingston, Died Saturday In 
Nesbitt Memorial Hospital, Kingston.

Wednesday, December 21, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 12A 





Judgment in Petrini case seemed reasonable, fair &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Like the acid rains that mar the beauty of a courthouse's stonemasonry,
some legal events erode your faith in the justice systemAnd like the masons
sent aloft to repair the damage, some events shore up that faith in justice. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Caroline Petrini case saw those masons hard at work. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 From the initial arrest to the dramatic sentencing -- on Monday, tears
streamed down Petrini's face as she pleaded to the judge, "I'd like to beg for
mercy" -- the case has been a model of reasonableness and prudence. Police,
prosecutors, judges and jurors worked in concert, ably performing their
difficult roles. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That makes the sentence which the whole process led to seem both satisfying
and fair. Satisfying, because spending 3 1/2 to 7 years in jail (as Petrini
will do) is no walk across Public Square. This was a drunk-driving and
homicide-by-vehicle case, not a shoplifting rap that could be answered by
paying a fine. Petrini deserves to go to jail for having killed two men with
her car. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But the verdict seems fair, too. Just as this was no shoplifting case,
neither was it a case of premeditated murder. Caroline Petrini didn't plot to
kill those men. She killed them by drinking too much and then driving -- in
other words, by being disgracefully and even willfully careless. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That's a sin (and a crime) in every respect. But it's a sin on a different
plane than an act of cold-blooded murder -- and it deserves a different
punishment. Premeditated killing is an act so savage that reasonable people
can't even imagine themselves doing it. But carelessness.... Who hasn't
careened down the highway while singing, or eating, or glancing too long at a
map, or doing any number of things that distract you from the wheel? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Who hasn't drunk too much as a teen or a devil-may-care young adult, and
then turned an ignition key? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And who hasn't learned a wrenching lesson about care ful ness from this
case? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "There but for the grace of God," people say, and about all parties in the
Petrini story, too. Any one of us could be the victim next time, or a drunk
driver could claim any member of our families. Every reader, every TV viewer
identifies with and deeply sympathizes with the families of Petrini's victims,
Michael Holena and David Banks. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Then again, every reader and viewer will join Caroline's parents, Patricia
and Fred Petrini, in their own private mourning, too. When kids grow up they
cut the strings from their parents. Their parents no longer keep any
meaningful control. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But the strings leading back to the parents stay intact. As long as their
children live, parents get pulled by those strings. Sons and daughters, by
their actions, will lift parents to summits of joy or plunge them into canyons
of sorrow. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 We all feel for Mr. and Mrs. Petrini, because we all tread too close to
those canyons for comfort. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Besides its apparent fairness, other aspects of the Petrini case deserve
praise, too. The state's minimum sentencing guidelines proved their worth:
They ensured a minimum sentence that would satisfy society's interest, while
giving the judge the power of "judgment" over the balance of jail time. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The tearful remorse shown by Petrini and her parents in Monday's courtroom
did much to blunt the harshness of society's judgment toward them. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And the exceptional restraint shown by some members of the victims'
families -- who refrained from commenting publicly until after Petrini's trial
-- did the members and their loved ones great credit, too. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 All in all, the tragic case of Caroline Petrini showed a system responding
to a terrible wrong by doing its best to set things right. In the end, it
seemed, justice was done. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Judgment In Petrini Case Seemed Reasonable, Fair 
Like The Acid Rains That Mar The Beauty Of A Courthouse's Stonemasonry, Some 
Legal Events Erode Your Faith In The Justice System.

Judgment In Petrini Case Seemed Reasonable, Fair Like The Acid Rains That Mar The Beauty Of A Courthouse's Stonemasonry, Some Legal Events Erode Your Faith In The Justice System.