Jan., 12, 2023; I-10 in Chandler, AZ, near Wild Horse Pass Blvd (just a couple of miles from my home. There have been other fatal collisions here)

It’s highly unusual (practically unheard of!) for a not-impaired driver to be punished with prison for causing a death. This one other case, from 2015, comes to mind. Every year in Arizona about 1,000 people die at the hands of a negligent driver. Most of them are not impaired, so here are two out of thousands of cases where the driver went to prison.

Another case with some similarities is the Uber driver who was watching TV while driving and ran over and killed a pedestrian in Tempe after years of delays finally pleaded guilty to minor charges (endangerment — yea, I guess that is dangerous, isn’t it?) and received only probation.

Was something else going on here? I don’t know of anything. It’s also unusual for multiple counts stemming from the same incident to be sentenced consecutively… So perhaps 4.5 years for a negligent homicide might be reasonable — notwithstanding that the vast majority of them are never even charged — but would be sentenced concurrently.

Another possibility as to why some cases receive more scrutiny than others: truck drivers in interstate commerce undergo more thorough investigations. Both this case, and the DPS trooper killed in 2015 by drivers staring at their phones involved commercial big-rig drivers…. indicating to me that authorities simply aren’t looking very closely at the vast majority of fatal incidents unless impairment is suspected.

Criminal Case

Maricopa County Superior case CR-2023007436; Minutes: courtminutes, and here is the sentencing order, here's the plea.

An oddity or error: the plea states the charges are “dangerous” , but the sentencing order says “non-dangerous… pursuant to 28-704A” it would appear there’s typos in the sentencing order, should have said “dangerous”. See more about criminal sentencing here.

There were a couple of endangerment, and a tampering with physical evidence charges that fell out but those are the lowest-level felonies.

News Report

 

Truck driver distracted by TikTok in Arizona crash that killed 5 is sentenced to over 22 years in prison
An FBI analysis of Danny Glen Tiner’s phone found the truck driver was actively using TikTok before he ran into stopped traffic, causing a fiery crash.
Aug. 20, 2024, 10:33 AM MST / Updated Aug. 20, 2024, 2:47 PM MST
By Doha Madani
A truck driver who Arizona prosecutors said caused a deadly accident because he was watching TikTok while driving has been sentenced to more than 22 years in prison.
Danny Glen Tiner was driving on Interstate 10 near Chandler on the morning of Jan. 12, 2023, when, officials said, he failed to stop his tractor-trailer before it ran into stopped traffic. Five people were killed, and Tiner was charged with manslaughter about six months later.
He pleaded guilty to lesser charges as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said Tuesday that he was sentenced to 4½ years for each count of negligent homicide, totaling 22.5 years in prison, as each sentence will be served consecutively. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of eight years.
County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said the justice system succeeded in holding Tiner accountable.
“As a driver, you have an obligation to pay attention to the road. To choose to access social media while driving, placing the lives of others on the line, is reckless,” Mitchell said. “Five families are living through the pain of losing a loved one.”
Online court records do not list an attorney for Tiner.
Tiner initially told authorities he was checking a message on his “electronic work tablet” at the time of the crash and did not have time to stop once he looked up from the device. But the Arizona Department of Public Safety said an FBI analysis of Tiner’s phone showed he was actively using TikTok at the time of the crash.
Authorities also said he was speeding, going 68 mph in a 55 mph zone.
The victims were Ryan Gooding, Andrew Standifird, Jerardo Vazquez, Willis Thompson and Gilberto Franco.
Standifird’s mother, Sarah Standifird, told NBC affiliate KPNX of Phoenix that her son was driving his co-workers Vasquez, Thompson and Franco to work. The four men worked at AAA Landscaping.
The tractor-trailer driven by Tiner rear-ended Standifird’s Ford F-250, which caused it and a Toyota Camry to be wedged underneath another semi-truck in front of the three vehicles. All four co-workers were killed, along with Gooding, who was driving the Camry..

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