Posted by sethook on July 25, 2008 at 1:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I hope the legal system gets this one right and locks Cochenour up for a long, long time. There's no rational excuse for drunk driving unless your a politician and are being picked on by law enforcement.

Posted by Thomas1776 on July 25, 2008 at 2:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Plenty of wealthy residents of Mt. Pleasant stop off at bars after work and drink a few.

Anywho, if this woman goes before Judge Roger Young, he has to give her probation like the other woman he sentenced not long ago. If she goes before any other judge and doesn't get probation, then what does that say about Judge Young and the rule of 'his' law in "OUR" courtroom?

Now now now, we know what they will try to do if this is brought to their attention. They will try to compare characters and backgrounds of each defendant. lol

This should get interesting down the road.

Posted by Thomas1776 on July 25, 2008 at 3:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Sethook,

$100,000 bond is pretty high for someone with no record when compared to other cases.

Oh well. Although I am sorry this happened, I have no respect for drunk drivers. Dinner hours right after the end of a work day, bars get busy with drinkers. Based on Judge Young's record, she goes before him (which we know she won't because the prosecutor/court system might just make sure she doesn't), he has to give her probation like the other woman that was before him basically on the same charge.

Cochenour needs an experienced DUI attorney and one that will bring up other cases to use at her sentencing at trial or her guilty plea.

I wonder if that second vehicle that smashed into the motorcycle might have also hit the victim? Was the motorcycle speeding? Was his headlight on? A helment might have saved his life. Operating a motorcycle without one is very very foolish.

Posted by stand828 on July 25, 2008 at 4:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Another "no helmet" story. When will people learn?

Posted by ForPnC on July 25, 2008 at 4:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)

My condolences.

I love my alcohol but I don't drive once I've had even a sip. I do it at home or have a responsible DD.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for drunk drivers. They should be charged with premeditated murder.

Posted by Tammie on July 25, 2008 at 7:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)

ForPnC sez: "I have no sympathy whatsoever for drunk drivers. They should be charged with premeditated murder."

I'm inclined to agree. I hope she stays her toasted azz in jail for a long time. My condolences and prayers to the family of the deceased.

Posted by gmc1 on July 25, 2008 at 7:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Thomas1776 says,Cochenour needs an experienced DUI attorney and one that will bring up other cases to use at her sentencing at trial or her guilty plea.

Reese Joye unavailable.

Posted by jmw9 on July 25, 2008 at 8:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Here's my "Once again" comment,

Once again people suffer because of someone else's irresponsibility by an adult's failure to realize right from wrong when making an adult decision.

We are becoming more and more spoiled by our freedoms, desensitized to the excesses we live in, and ignorant to the effects of our actions.

Posted by beth1070 on July 25, 2008 at 8:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I hope this haunts Cochenour for the rest of her life. Her stupid irresponsible decision to get behind the wheel of a car after she'd been drinking practically all day will cause the Guerry family and her own family pain and heartache for the rest of their lives. I have no sympathy whatsoever for anyone guilty of this senseless act of stupidity. Her name and face should be featured on a billboard with the caption "My stupidity caused an innocent man to lose his life."

Posted by Early on July 25, 2008 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)

First of all, why no breathalyzer?
Did she refuse or they did not offer it to her?
IF, she is telling the truth, I would be surprised but, she was probably below the legal limit. I do question why she got up and drank a left over beer, that's BS. By her own actions, she sounds like a hard core alcoholic.

Posted by jifdeng3 on July 25, 2008 at 8:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Why the hell am I required by law to wear a seatbelt and these knuckle heads are not required to wear a helmet? Not to say this drunk woman is not to blame. The laws in this state are so backwards. Make helmets law!

Posted by MissVAbch on July 25, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Oh, someone else says the laws in this state are backwards, but if I say it I get 'flamed'. Why is that?

This place is bass-ackwards. Once again, where I come from, there is a helmet law AS WELL AS a bike helmet law! After moving here and seeing all the kids NOT wearing helmets, my kids felt stupid and out of place. I tell them that they are setting an example. Now they refuse to ride their bikes. Great, thanks SC.

It is unbelievable how many motorcyclists I see *not* wearing a helmet? Where are their brains??

Posted by yougogirl78 on July 25, 2008 at 9:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)

It is quote obvious this woman has a drinking problem if she is drinking a leftover beer from the night before and two after breakfast.

I agree jif - helmets should be law!

Posted by Larz13 on July 25, 2008 at 9:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Am I the only one who noticed that she started drinking at 6:30 AM (and from a leftover beer from the night before)?????

This woman has some serious problem with the suds. She doesn't even use ColdBeer!

Posted by Tammie on July 25, 2008 at 9:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)

"As an officer drove Cochenour to jail, she told him she had at least five beers during the day: an open beer left over from the night before when she woke up around 6:30 a.m., two more between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., another two with her daughter at a Mount Pleasant restaurant around 5:40 p.m. and one at her Mount Pleasant home before she left, a police report said."

What the hell? I don't think she only had beer...she had to have some other drink, like Everclear! I couldn't drink that much in a week!

Posted by yougogirl78 on July 25, 2008 at 9:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Larz I noticed too.

Posted by Thomas1776 on July 25, 2008 at 9:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Posted by jifdeng3 on July 25, 2008 at 8:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

"Why the hell am I required by law to wear a seatbelt and these knuckle heads are not required to wear a helmet? Not to say this drunk woman is not to blame. The laws in this state are so backwards. Make helmets law!"

*** jifdeng3 .... please be quiet. You are making to much sense! People do not apply such intelligence as yours in SC. Careful or they will brand you!

It's is pretty insane, though. And I couldn't agree more with what you say.

No helmets vs Mandatory Seat Belt law is a reflection as to how stupid and on the take people like Senator McConnell and Rep Booby Harrell really are. I will not go as far as to say you get what you deserve for NOT wearing a helmet while on a motorcycle, but you take a very high risk with your own life by not doing so. Thus in essence, a person is plain "stupid" to operate a motorcycle on the roads and highways without one ( at any age )! So is there any responsibility on Guerry part for his own death? Is government to blame for not requiring a helmet when it mandates seat beats in autos and trucks (you can't even ride in the back of a pickup truck - legally). Should operators of motor boats and their passengers be required to wear seat belts?

It's easy to get killed on a motor cycle. You have no real protection. Especially if you do not wear a helmet to protect your brain. Head injuries are the leading cause of death in accidents involving a motorcyclist - by a very wide margin. Guerry would likely still be alive had he have chosen to wear one.

Posted by MissPriss on July 25, 2008 at 10:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I noticed that she drank a leftover beer at 6:30 too.

2 between 8:30 and 9:30= one every 30 minutes.

8 hours later she had 2 at 5:40 pm and one before she left her house.

I don't think the beer from 6:30-9:30 matters much as she had the whole day to sober up from those.

She either had very little/ no tolerance or she had to have drank more than that because it just doesn't add up. I'm suprised she didn't tell the officer she only had two, that's the magic number to tell the police.

Either way, she needs to be locked up for a long time. She took somebody's life and I hope it haunts her for the rest of her life.

Posted by RTC on July 25, 2008 at 10:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Yesterday's article mentioned that she had been at Do Re Me's drinking with her daughter. The bartender there claims to have only served her one beer. That is most probably a lie, as he could be held responsible for serving an already intoxicated customer. This is a popular watering hole for many of the town drunks.
Also, if she admitted to drinking as early as 6:30 am, then most likely she had been drinking throughout the day.
Anyone who wakes up in the morning and drinks a leftover beer has a serious problem.
I hope she gets a very long prison sentence.

Posted by grannyofsix on July 25, 2008 at 10:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)

people who drive drunk should have to live in a mourge and clean up what DUI's do to others

Posted by grannyofsix on July 25, 2008 at 10:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Bet she gets a slap on the wrist because she has a good 10 year driving recorded (never caught)

Posted by ysillyme on July 25, 2008 at 10:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)

left over beer for breakfast `````beats red eye gravy over grits. Get ya a nip of the tail of the dog that bit ya. In fact she could have been telling the truth about the amt. of alcohol she consumed if--she didn't eat, inadequate rest, liver just can't process the alcohol out, her beer of choice is 221 brown (9% alcohol by volume). Her sweet lil ass is cooked in any event, don't drive drunk!

Posted by ironhorse on July 25, 2008 at 11:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Posted by Thomas1776 "Head injuries are the leading cause of death in accidents involving a motorcyclist - by a very wide margin"

WRONG! Body trauma is the leading cause.

Honda installed an air bag in the Gold Wing for this reason. I was never GIVEN a free helmet when I purchased a motorcycle (btw, I do not ride a Honda).

No to helmet laws! The leading causes of death in this country are eating and tobacco use. Want to stop those?

Posted by Jane on July 25, 2008 at 11:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)

gmc1, classless comment about Reese Joye.

He did alot of good in his life. Did you know he defended veterans for free? Did you know he bought a woman's house that was in foreclosure and turned around and helped her to refinance the house so she could afford the payments? She would have been on the street if it hadn't been for him. He did alot of good.

There is no excuse for driving drunk, but I have to say, this also could have happened if you were stone cold sober if a motorcyclists doesn't have their light on, it is easy to not see them and pull out in front of them. Not saying he didn't have his light on and she definitely should not have been driving.

Posted by justjerry on July 25, 2008 at 11:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Don't assume that having a few beers in the morning is a red flag. There are many folks, myself included, who do not always work a bankers schedule and sometimes have a drink in the morning after getting home and then go to bed during the day. As MissPriss said the morning beers should not have affected her impairment for later in the afternoon. That being said, two beers in a couple of hours, even if they were high gravity, should not have impaired her to the level that the police said she was - something sounds fishy!

Posted by grainofsalt on July 25, 2008 at 11:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree, Ironhorse. More laws aren't the answer.

I think anyone not wearing a helmet is stupid. (Sorry, motorcyclists who do this.) But sure, since we can't allow people to be responsible for themselves, let's add a helmet law.

And MissVAbch, add a bike helmet law too. ... I've been riding a bike since 5 and never knew a single person with a head injury from it. I know it happens, but not to MOST of us. But since it SOMETIMES happens, by all means, add a law like your home state, which clearly you miss because we're all so backwards here.

Then let's outlaw vehicles altogether. Heck, even with seatbelts, airbags and helmets, people still die. We simply can't have that. So no more cars or motorcycles. And as Ironhorse suggests, let's outlaw fatty foods and tobacco. After all, more people die from that. Let's outlaw guns, and knives (we can always cut food with sporks or something) and then let's outlaw glass. Did you know people sometimes die from severe glass cuts?

... I guess I don't have to go on further to drive this point into the ground even more. :-)

Posted by ln1959 on July 25, 2008 at 11:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I know an alcoholic when I read of one, and she sure is a model for one. I have a good friend that I grow up with, that the first thing he does when he wakes up is grab a beer. And I mean first thing. Its a good thing he does not drive anymore.

She will probably get 2 years for manslaughter and 5 years probation, as long as she attend AA.

She needs to spend a good long time in jail to clean out that liver.

Posted by MissPriss on July 25, 2008 at 12:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

She drank 2 at a Mt. P restaurant and one before she left her home.

So basically she drove from the restaurant home, had another beer, and hopped back in her car.

I'm sure she figured why not drive after a couple? I do it all the time and nothing bad happens. This time it did.

I also wonder why there was no breathalyzer test done?
I'm sure her blood test will come back above legal limit.

Posted by Early on July 25, 2008 at 12:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Looks like the alcohol took a toll on her, she looks like she is in her 50's, not 43

Posted by prosperous_hb on July 25, 2008 at 1:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)

her bond was $100K.....what a damn shame. They may need to test her for meth.

Posted by BigSargeofSC on July 25, 2008 at 2:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

This is for those people who can't figure out why we have a seatbelt law and no helmet law. Its call the federal government and funding for interstates. Back in the late 1990's, the federal government made a treat to withhold funding for roads unless states passed a mandatory seatbelt law. The Feds made no requirement for helmet laws and left for each state to decide for itself.

Having said that, what is it that makes people think that a helmet is anymore a live-saver than a seatbelt? The odds are always 50/50 that they will save you or they wont save you. As far as helmets go, people wearing them can die in bike crashes the same as those not wearing them. All the helmet is going to do is save your head from cracked open, but thats about it.

Mr Guerry didn't lose his life becasue of a helmet. He lost his life because of a drunk driver. May she rot in jail.

Posted by reality_woman on July 25, 2008 at 2:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Thanks BigSargeofSC, I too agree Mr. Guerry lost his life because an ignorant drunk, not because he had not been wearing a helmet. We don't know what the official cause of his death was, but given that he was hit by two vehicles, it very well could have been multiple trauma and that resulting in massive internal injuries and bleeding. So, that being said, yes motorcyclists should wear helemts, but statiscally speaking, the number of motorcyclists dying are on the rise, but how many auto accidents do we have each and every day just because the driver failed to yeild, did not look before they turned etc.
Drivers of motor vehicles need to slow down, be more aware of your surroundings and start caring about the person in the other cars near you, and the motorcyclists out there.

Posted by noname on July 25, 2008 at 3:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I too agree with both reality_woman & BigSargeofSC:
Mr. Guerry lost his live to an ignorant drunk!

I hope she rots in jail!

Posted by Rebel_Yell on July 25, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

All you liberals demanding helmet laws for motorcyclists make me sick. We need less government in our lives, not more. If you don't like it, who cares. What we really need is less soccer moms trying to regulate everything to the point that I need a permit to scratch myself.

Posted by Eyes_N_Skies on July 25, 2008 at 7:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Da foollllllllllllllll should'veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee had a helmet onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!

DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Eyes_N_Skies on July 25, 2008 at 7:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Highway safety : motorcycle helmet laws save lives and reduce costs to society : report to Congressional requesters.
by United States. General Accounting Office.

Posted by Eyes_N_Skies on July 25, 2008 at 7:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Trooper injured by suspected drunk while making arrest on freeway
By Noah Haglund (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Friday, July 25, 2008

A state trooper and a man suspected of drunken driving were injured while stopped along the Interstate 26 median early today when another driver hit them, authorities said.

Charleston County sheriff's deputies arrested the second driver on a DUI charge after the crash on the westbound freeway lanes.

Posted by Eyes_N_Skies on July 25, 2008 at 7:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

SC izzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz gettin a newwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Helmet lawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Slick50 on July 25, 2008 at 7:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

BigSargeofSC...thank you for applying logic to this debate.

A man died, not because he wasn't wearing a helmet, not because he was speeding, and not because he wasn't burning his headlight. He was killed by a careless, intoxicated driver.

Posted by southerngirl45 on July 25, 2008 at 7:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

grannyof6 you have a wonderful idea!Let those caught for DUI'S be made to work thier time off in a morgue and see first hand what drunk driving can do! I have a question though.Is there a stop light where this accident occured?Not having a helmet law is bad enough,but now our "good ole' govenor" has given cyclist the right to run red lights! Get ready to hear about a lot more accidents involving motor cycles.

Posted by sis on July 26, 2008 at 12:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)

This is my sister you all are giving hell ,I know she did wrong first off drinking and driving and second hitting and killing this man, I'm sure it will haunt her for the rest of her life( that is if she feels that she deserves to live* I'm afraid of her not wanting to live after this has happened)I know that she would never hurt or kill anyone intentionally. Mycondolences go out to this mans family, I also hate this happened for both ends of this terrible accident.But I'll always love my "baby sister regaurdless Love you kris we're her for you always,love sis

Posted by ecochenour on August 28, 2008 at 4:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Aloha from Maui.

This is my Aunt you folks are judging. It truly is a shame that you sit in the comfort of your home hiding behind your computer to harshly judge her without even knowing her personally. If you met her in person would you have the audacity to speak these things aloud to her? May I also remind you that he was her FRIEND. Imagine what it must be like to know for the rest of your life that you accidentally killed your friend.

I don't think that drinking and driving is a good choice, but I'm sure you've done it at least once in your lifetime and you're lucky you didn't hurt anyone when you did it or you could be in the same dark place.

I constantly think about how my Aunt can not eat because other prisoners steal her food and how she can not sleep because she has nightmares about the accident. I think about how she has not even met her grandchildren yet and the fact that she may never meet them. I think about the great person she is and how kind she is to people. I think about her everyday and I hope she will be able to make it through this depressing and horrible time in her life without it affecting her happy-go-lucky spirit that I've always admired.