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Dorchester woman held on $500,000 bail for allegedly plowing into a pedestrian while drunk

A woman charged with putting a pedestrian into the ICU Sunday night could spend the time until her trial behind bars after her family said it could only scrape together $2,500 in bail, not the $500,000 set by Judge James Coffey.

Coffeey agreed with a request from the Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Brian Brodigan for the high bail for Kathleen Abban due to the nature of the victim's condition - he has a broken neck and bleeding in his brain and "it's not clear whether he'll make it," Brodigan said. Also, Abban was convicted of OUI in Quincy in 2007, he said.

Abban's attorney argued for the lower bail on charges of operating under the influence, second offense, operating under the influence causing serious injury and leaving the scene of an accident, saying she was no threat to flee: She's a Dorchester native, her father, brother and boyfriend were in the courtroom and she's had a steady job with the T for 10 years.

And while she apparently fled the scene after hitting the man around 7:30 p.m. on Columbia Road near 93, she pulled up about a half mile away, then walked back to where the man lay on the ground to talk to troopers, which he said indicated her desire to do the right thing, he argued.

Assistant District Attorney Brian Brodigan, however, told Coffey that Abban didn't just park down the street. After hitting the man - at an estimated 35 m.p.h.and leaving him on the median strip, she hit a guard rail with such force that she had to first back up to drive away, he said., adding the state trooper investigating the crash found pieces of the guard rail on the street.

And while she did ultimately agree to take a breath test - after failing field sobriety tests - she blew a 0.25, or roughly three times the legal limit, Brodigan said, adding she told the trooper investigating the crash she was on her way home from the Shannon Tavern in South Boston, where she allegedly had four drinks.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

Word on the internets is she was an MBTA bus driver

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The Herald reports that she is a bus driver for the MBTA.

I'd like to know how or why the MBTA would allow her to be a driver with an OUI conviction in 2007. I expect that drivers on the MBTA have sterling driving records, certainly without any OUI infractions. We put our trust in these drivers to deliver us safely on a daily basis. If this woman was a bus driver for the MBTA, this is a very significant problem that puts the public at risk.

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"Abban was investigated for drunken driving and her license was suspended in 2007 following a 2006 crash in Braintree. She was later held civilly responsible in the crash, according to RMV records. The drunken driving case was continued without a finding after she attended and completed a drunk driver’s education course, according to RMV records.

Abban was also involved in surchargeable crashes in 2001, 2005 and 2010 in addition to the Braintree crash, according to the RMV records."

How can the MBTA allow this person to be a bus dirver?

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"civilly responsible" for an OUI?

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The article says that she was found civilly responsible for the crash, not for the OUI.

Being civilly responsible (i.e., "at fault" under the insurance contracts and laws) is separate from being charged / convicted / acquitted of a violation.

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Only the rich should be able to drive drunk and stay out of jail, as this judge says.

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Those people get bad lawyers appointed to comfy benches donchaknow?

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That's only in Texas.

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No objection to the high bail here, but I'd love to see some consistency in how it is set in the Commonwealth. All too often* we read of John Doe who was arrested for murder, but was out on $2,000 bail for armed assault.

* ...on this site; boston.com is too busy with Santa Speedos

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Get a reasonable judge and you won't be going anywhere if you've done something nasty and have prior record. Get judge Dougan or someone similar, on the other hand, and you're very likely to walk on personal recognizance even if you were caught shooting at someone and have a bunch of prior gun convictions on file.

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