Hawthorne Resident Charged with Aggravated Manslaughter, Sentenced to 20 Years
By: Moe M.
Back in August 2014, a man named James Woetzel, a fifty-one (51) year old resident of Hawthorne, drove his vehicle through barricades at a farmer’s market in Hawthorne and hit and killed a woman named Donna Wine. Donna Wine was a fifty-eight (58) year old resident of Hawthorne, New Jersey.
Ms. Wine was at a vegetable stand at the farmer’s market when she was hit by Woetzel’s truck. He even continued to drive the car nearly half a mile before being stopped. Law enforcement found that James Woetzel had Difluoroethane in his system at the time, which is a volatile substance found in compressed air cleaners.
In September 2017, a jury found Mr. Woetzel guilty and he was charged with First-Degree Aggravated Manslaughter, First-Degree Death by Auto within 1000 Feet of a School, and Second-Degree Death by Auto. The jury did not take longer to decide on a verdict as it only took a day of deliberations. However, Woetzel was found not guilty on the charge of Second-Degree Knowingly Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in Death.
On December 15, 2017, Mr. James Woetzel was sentenced by the Honorable Judge Joseph A. Portelli to twenty (20) years in N.J. State Prison for the Aggravated Manslaughter in connection with Donna Wine’s death in 2014. Woetzel will have to serve a minimum of 85% of the time before parole, pursuant to the “New Jersey No Early Release Act“. At which time, he will be supervised on parole for five (5) additional years. Furthermore, Judge Portelli decided that when Woetzel is released from prison, his driving privileges will be suspended for twenty (20) years.
All persons are assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
