Portland Man Convicted in Fatal Drunk Driving Crash

A Clatsop County court has convicted a 45-year old Portland man in a case stemming from a fatal drunk driving car crash last year, according to The Oregonian.

The case of Ken Middleton’s Portland fatal car crash is particularly shocking not only because of the sheer amount of alcohol he consumed in the hours leading up to the accident, but also because he got behind the wheel so completely intoxicated despite having his own 13-year-old daughter riding with him. The Daily Astorian reported that Middleton, at his trial, “admitted he had consumed at least 12 beers that day.” His daughter, mercifully, “suffered only minor injuries,” according to The Oregonian.

In addition to Oregon drunk driving Middleton was convicted of manslaughter, second-degree assault and three counts of reckless endangering, The Oregonian reports. The manslaughter charge stems from the death of Andrew Church, a motorcyclist whom Middleton struck head on when he drifted over the centerline as he and his daughter drove along US-30 in Astoria last May.

It is difficult to know what to say about a crash that takes a man’s life even as it endangers the perpetrator’s own child. Suffice it to say that resolving issues like these and bringing some feeling of justice and closure to victims are one of the main roles our courts – civil and criminal alike – serve in cases such as this.

An Oregon car crash attorney can work with victims and their families, especially those who may feel that criminal courts alone have been unable to see justice properly done in wrenching Oregon drunk driving cases.

The Daily Astorian: Jury convicts driver who had a dozen beers, killed motorcyclist

The Oregonian: Clatsop County jury convicts Portland man on drunk driving, manslaughter charges

50 SW Pine St 3rd Floor Portland, OR 97204 Telephone: (503) 226-3844 Fax: (503) 943-6670 Email: matthew@mdkaplanlaw.com
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