By Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli
In 2006, the tragic death of 20-year-old Tiffany Heitkamp, a passenger in a boat driven by an intoxicated person, changed forever MaryJo Heitkamp-France’s life.
“It was the worst day of my life,” she said. “It was awful. It’s still awful.”
The person driving the boat was a 23-year-old man who had two prior DWIs (driving while intoxicated) convictions. However, these offenses were not considered when sentencing the young man for his BWI (boating while intoxicated) conviction, which resulted in Tiffany’s death. That is because there was no linkage in law between these offenses (DWI and BWI). It was possible to be convicted in separate cases of operating a vessel or car and be sentenced as a first time offender in each instance despite previous violations of similar laws.
On June 1 and 2, the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, respectively, voted to pass legislation A1597A/S3785A, known as “Tiffany Heitkamp’s Law.” Senator John DeFrancisco and I teamed up to co-sponsor legislation that would link drunken driving offenses, whether involving a car or boat.
I hope this legislation will make people think twice about driving a boat while intoxicated. This bill goes a long way in allowing judges to consider linking previous intoxication violations whether in a car or boat, when considering sentencing penalties for repeat offenders.
The new “Tiffany Heitkamp’s Law” amends Section 49-a of the Navigation Law by adding a new subdivision 5-a. This new section states that a sentencing court shall consider prior DWI convictions in the past 10 years when sentencing a defendant for a BWI. Creating this requirement would allow a judge to impose a higher sentence in these situations. The justification for the new statute: those who repeatedly violate intoxicated operation laws should not be given leniency because they have re-offended in a boat versus a car. Reflecting their danger to society and failure to learn from a past mistake, repeat offenders of BWI and DWI laws are subject to higher penalties.
Tiffany Heitkamp’s mom, MaryJo, has endured the overwhelming pain of losing a child. Nothing can replace her loss. But she used her tragic story to convince lawmakers in Albany to link the drunken driving laws involving different vehicles and thereby strengthening the laws against repeat offenders.
