A 26-year-old Tangerang woman has been handed a 5-and-a-half year sentence after she was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter caused by negligent driving, killing a pedestrian back in March.
The Tangerang District Court handed the sentence to Aurelia Margaretha Yulia yesterday. Her sentence is half of the 11 years demanded by prosecutors in the case.
On March 29, Aurelia was reportedly speeding on the street of a housing complex in Lippo Karawaci, when her car fatally hit a 51-year-old man named Andrea Njotohusodo and his pet dog, who were out on an afternoon jog.
Andrea’s wife arrived at the scene of the incident soon after and became hysterical upon seeing her husband lying lifeless on the ground. Aurelia then reportedly assaulted Andrea’s wife because she did not want to be blamed for his death.
Police previously ruled that Aurelia was driving under the influence of alcohol, as well as using her phone, at the time of the incident. But those elements were not proven in court despite police recovering a bottle of soju and the phone in question from her car as evidence.
Her defense team said they will consider an appeal against her sentence, saying that their client, who is bipolar, lost control of her vehicle due to her mental state at the time.
“Expert witnesses say those with impulse control issues can’t brake. She was speeding because of her [lack of] impulse control at the time,” Aurelia’s lawyer, Charles Situmorang, said following the sentencing hearing.
The court said that Aurelia’s bipolarity was an extenuating factor in determining her sentence, in addition to her remorse and the fact that she supports her family financially.
