Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

speakup

DORCHESTER An elderly Rothesay man has died in prison while serving a two-year sentence for impaired driving causing death. Correctional Services Canada spokesman André Veniot confirmed Joseph A. Chamberlain, 79, died of natural causes at Dorchester Penitentiary April 27.

In early December at Sussex Provincial Court, Judge Henrik Tonning sentenced Chamberlain to prison after he admitted to being drunk behind the wheel of his car and running over and killing Adrienne (Andy) Marie Frances Shipley last year.

The frail senior citizen ran down Shipley last June 23 in the parking lot of Our Lady of Perpetual Hope Church in Rothesay while her friends and family looked on. Chamberlain had arrived to pick up his wife after Mass and never saw the 60-year-old woman before his maroon Buick drove over her. Chamberlain's blood alcohol level was 149 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood.

During sentencing, Tonning said courts considers twice the legal limit to be an aggravating factor.

While Chamberlain's readings were shy of 160 mg, Tonning said his ability to drive was questionable at best considering his health problems, and therefore he considered it a strike against Chamberlain.

Tonning also said the two-year sentence and lifetime ban from driving were aimed at denouncing drunk driving and general deterrence because "society has had enough."

At the time of Chamberlain's sentencing, his lawyer, Gary Miller, wanted the record to show that he believed the sentencing was "cruel and unusual punishment," given the deteriorating health of his client.

He feared a prison term would be a life sentence for Chamberlain, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and relied on a wheelchair for mobility and an oxygen tank to breathe.

With files from

David Kelly / KCR