In no way am I defending Henry Ruggs III. He's clearly responsible for a young woman's death and deserves to serve time in prison.
I'm generally, I think, on the side of Mike Florio that Ruggs should serve the maximum sentence for driving while intoxicated and causing a death, which would be 20 years.
Now, there are extra charges being pursued which could amount to a maximum sentence of 42 years in prison. That would mean that Ruggs would be in prison until he turns 64 or 65 depending on the timeline of trial and sentencing.
To put this in context, I have met people in person, face to face, and had lengthy conversations with those people who are confessed murderers who served 25 years in prison. These are people who did intend to kill another person at the time.
Henry Ruggs III, as far as I can tell, had no intention of killing anybody. He made a series of stupid and reckless decisions that resulted in the tragic death of a young woman. He didn't flee the scene. He, to my knowledge, hasn't attempted to pretend that he's innocent or free of blame.
I do think that 42 years, given my experience interacting with our criminal justice system, would be too much.
My heart obviously goes out for this young woman and her family. My heart also goes out to Ruggs's daughter whose father might be behind bars until she's older than I am.
This is one of the worst and most tragic stories that I've ever seen. It's hard to find the right words. I don't even know if the right words exist.