Edmiston bills pass Senate

[Steve]

Edmiston bills pass Senate




By Peter Comings, Staff Writer June 04, 2001




LANSING - Six months after they lost him in a hunting accident, the family of Lee Earl Edmiston had reason to be a little more at ease Thursday as the Michigan Senate passed two bills setting penalties for those accused of drunk hunting causing injury or death.





Senate bills 497 and 498 passed unanimously, making hunting while drunk causing injury a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Drunk hunting causing death becomes a 15-year felony. Senators William Van Regenmorter, R-Georgetown Township, and Don Koivisto, D-Ironwood, cosponsored the bills.


Both measures will now have to be considered by the House of Representatives, likely next fall.


"I just talked to Sen. Van Regenmorter and said 'God bless you. Now finally my dad has some measure of justice,'" said Edmiston's daughter Sandie, unable to attend the Thursday afternoon session, from her home in Negaunee. The family members introduced were Edmiston's daughters, Sandie andKathy Alonzo and their aunt, Diane Dingman, who represented Sandie.





Lee Edmiston was killed in a hunting accident by his close friend Leonard Weitzel during deer hunting season last November. Weitzel, who had also been charged with careless discharge of a firearm causing injury or death, pleaded no contest Jan. 18 to a misdemeanor charge of hunting while intoxicated. Blood samples taken five hours after the incident showed Weitzel had a .11 blood alcohol level. He received a $100 fine and 30 days in jail at his sentencing.


"I think the Edmiston family made a good point when they alerted us to what the issue was there," said Koivisto. "It should also be a little bit of caution to people hunting out there while intoxicated. We were trying to copy what's on the book for drunk driving statutes. It was a matter of copying that."


"I say this humbly. My committee is really known for working out details in committee, not on the floor," said Van Regenmorter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.


Although the bills are now eligible to be considered by the House, both senators advised it would likely be September before a House vote was taken up by one of three different committees.


"The advantage we have is that it is in good shape," said Van Regenmorter, referring to the lack of opposition to the bills. "I felt from the beginning this was an important bill. There are a lot of hunters in my district. Most of my colleagues have hunters in their districts. Most of the hunters I talk to want to be safe. They don't want to be in the woods with a drunk hunter. If we have a mandate at all as public officials, it's for public protection."





"I think it stands a very good chance for passage," said Koivisto. "No one surfaced to oppose the bill because I think everyone understands the wisdom of not drunk hunting, and if they're going to do that they need proper penalties on the books."


"I believe that comes from using the press and getting this out there so people realize there's a problem out there and lack of the law," said Alonzo of Sterling Heights. "I was floored. My husband was floored. Tears. I had a hold of my husband's hand. It was very thrilling. I've asked from Sen. Van Regenmorter the key players in the house we need to target. Once we do get it we will start out sending copies of the bill. It's pretty cut and dry when it's an alcohol issue, but we don't want to stand back. We think the proper thing to do is talk to the key people."


Rep. Ken Bradstreet, R-Gaylord, indicated he was aware of the accident last fall, but had not yet read the proposed legislation.


"I've read some of the accounts in the newspaper. I've had some feedback from people in the community, people who thought something should be done and others," said Bradstreet. "I'm very supportive of the concept. I'll sit down and read it first just to get a sense of what's already being done. Normally if you read a bill carefully there's a couple of different analysis applied, one from a nonpartisan perspective from the Legislative Service Bureau and then one from the caucus as well. Usually they're very similar."


©Gaylord Herald Times 2001

[Sarge]

Good decision, Good move, Bad situation

[CREW47]

I WANT ALL YOU GYES AND GALS TO BE SAFE-----OUT IN THE BEST NATURAL HIGH THERE IS

THANKS FOR POSTING THE PRESS FOR THIS PUTER DUMMIE


SANDIE L EDMISTON------WILL WARE BLAZE ORANGE RIBBON TILL I HEAR PASSED IN THE FALL

GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU MY DADS FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD