You Can Help Seek Justice for Van Brakel

We need you to write two letters to the sentencing judge one for Van Brakel and one for Aronica The plea agreement the prosecution presented to Van Brakel included the following: 'Count 1 (amended): MANSLAUGHTER, a class 2 felony, committed on December 28, 2007 in Scottsdale Arizona by recklessly causing the death of Calvin Holman.' And the following charges are dropped:    COUNT 2: ENDANGERMENT and    COUNT 3 & 4: DUI Full Text of Van Brakel Plea Agreement Aronica accepted his plea agreement pleading guilty and further indicated that he and Van Brakel were racing. Under this plea agreement Judge Ryan has the OPTION of sentencing Van Brakel to 10 years in jail. Actually 12.5 years is the maximum if the court makes exceptional circumstances finding. 5 years is the typical sentencing amount for this crime but we would like Van Brakel to get the most time in prison possible. Letters should be no longer that one page and typed if possible. The letters will be public record and will be shared with the prosecutor as well as the defendant. Each letter should refer to CR2008-031157-001 Briefly the letters should address: How you knew Cal How you know our family How his loss has impacted you and/or the community How the facts of the crime resulted such a tragic loss, which was unnecessary and irresponsible on part of Van Brakel. Van Brakel was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the accident. Any additional thoughts on drag racing during the middle of the day on public streets. Letters should be set to: The Honorable Judge Timothy J. Ryan Maricopa County Superior Court East Court Building 101 Jefferson; Courtroom 512 Phoenix, AZ 85003         Here is a sample letters you can use to start: Sample Letter - MS Word Format Sample Letter - PDF Format

Van Brakel was driving an AMG Mercedes, after hitting Cal Holman his car continued 75 feet past the intersection. Van Brakel hit first on the passenger side. He did not sustain any injuries in the crash. Since 2004 there have been 7 tickets for various moving violations. Driving 55 in a 35 zone, 67 in a 40 zone, and failing to yield in a cross walk are a sample of his driving record. Van Brakel has several pervious driving violations. One ticket in 2004, was for doing 120 miles per hour in a 75 miles per hour zone. He drag raced his Mercedes reaching 112 miles per hour. The time ticket is posted at Firebird International Raceway - http://tinyurl.com/27uu33.