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Tolly Carr's second chance arrives

Former WXII (Channel 12) anchor Tolly Carr has found TV work in Charlotte, reports Richard Prince.

He’s filling in as an early morning anchor on Fox affiliate WCCB there.

Carr was released from Guilford Correctional Center in McLeansville, in May following a 24-month sentence. He was convicted of killing a pedestrian in Winston-Salem while driving drunk in 2007.

Carr has had to pay a heavy price for his reckless choice to drink and drive. His victim, 26-year-old Casey Bokhoven, paid a much steeper price.

Now Carr appears to be getting a second chance. He should count his blessings and make the most of it.

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Posted by Allen Johnson on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 2:32 pm

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JoeC

December 29, 2009 - 3:14 pm EST

A shame that due to Tolly, Casey will not get a second chance.

Allen Johnson

December 29, 2009 - 3:20 pm EST

You are right. But Carr has served his time. At some point his life needs to resume.

And what he did likely will forever haunt his conscience. He would do well to continue to be a spokesman against drunken driving.

Doug Johnson

December 29, 2009 - 3:15 pm EST

I pray he will make the most of it!
Better still, I hope his experience may open someone eyes.

Allen Johnson

December 29, 2009 - 3:17 pm EST

Doug:
Let's hope for both ... especially as New Year's Eve approaches.

NC Girly

December 29, 2009 - 4:37 pm EST

Wow...a shame for Carr? Where is Casey's second chance? How many other people are spending the rest of their lives in prison for the same reckless act? I'm sorry, but this wasn't Carr's first time driving drunk. He was well aware of the pros and cons, but he chose to drink and drive. I'm sure he feels terrible, but you know that doesn't change the fact another person is dead because he made a poor choice!

wscbd

December 29, 2009 - 4:46 pm EST

I'm sorry, but the punishment has hardly fit the crime in this instance. I believe prisons should be used to punish, rehabilitate and reform. It's very likely that Carr will never drink and drive again. It's likely, too, that he is haunted by his mistakes every day, and that he will be for years.
But let's be serious here - he killed a man. Indeed, he should be counting his blessings, but this is another in a long list of examples of how truly warped our justice system is. Being under the influence of drugs should not be a mitigating factor. This was criminally negligent homicide. 20 years might be sufficient punishment. Anything he does from this point forward as penance is just fine, but it's not justice. Should I kill someone and then say, "Hey, I'll serve 2 years and then devote the rest of my time to telling people not to kill"? When you were a kid, how often did "But I didn't mean to!" lessen your punishment? Hopefully none.
A man no longer exists because this guy is an imbecile. There is no true justice for that. The idea that something like this can happen again is absurd. We need sentencing reform.

Allen Johnson

December 29, 2009 - 5:47 pm EST

It is an odd and very imperfect system. I recall an N.C. State student who struck and killed a professor while driving drunk nearly two years ago.
He got zero prison time.

JoeC

December 29, 2009 - 8:39 pm EST

Allen, that was wrong and Tolly being free is also wrong.

Allen Johnson

December 30, 2009 - 9:04 am EST

What do you consider an appropriate punishment in each case?

fatboy1

December 30, 2009 - 12:14 pm EST

I believe Tolly was truely sorry for this and has paid his debt and continues to pay a debt to society whether he is in jail or not. We all have things we are sorry for and wish we could do something to take back. If you are truely a good and decent person I think it is impossible to forgive yourself on your own for something like this. You have to give it to the Lord and believe that unlike humans his capacity to forgive does not have a limit.

wscbd

December 30, 2009 - 2:28 pm EST

There are some not-so-subtle differences at play. I, for example, was truly sorry for unintentionally breaking a guy's jaw in a rugby match, whereas Tolly killed someone; he made a series of bad decisions which ultimately resulted in the end of that man's life. Your faith in an imaginary sky wizard's compassion is necessarily subordinate to the ideal of American justice. As long as you call this land home, you should keep this fact in mind. Across the board, this nation has a system of sentencing that is arbitrary, inequitable and capricious. Rarely does the punishment fit the crime. People rot in prison for marijuana possession while this guy is free after killing an innocent man. So what if he feels bad for what he did? That's punishment? Let's assume a different scenario in which someone like myself is in Tolly's place. I have no conscience, and I can put on a hell of an act to appear repentant, so I might have received the same sentence as Tolly had I been the douche bag behind the wheel. Fair? Justice? I think not. There's sadly too little being done to change sentencing in the US.

Allen Johnson

December 30, 2009 - 3:11 pm EST

Again, I ask: What is the appropriate sentence in this case?

wscbd

December 30, 2009 - 3:28 pm EST

I'm probably not the person to ask for that opinion. Personally, I feel that the taking of a life in ANY circumstances other than self-defense should be a guaranteed ticket to death row, with no chance of parole or clemency (barring, obviously, the discovery of exculpatory evidence). Now, I believe that Constitution prohibits capital punishment so enacting such a sentencing requirement would first require an amendment permitting the death penalty, and I couldn't support that process until we find a way of guaranteeing that no innocent person shall ever be sentenced to death.
In my opinion, being under the influence of an impairing substance makes the crime more serious, not less. It should carry the same sentence as if the crime were planned, because the decision to get wasted is voluntary. So, the sentence for homicide resulting from driving under the influence should be no less than that for 1st degree murder.

brian444

December 30, 2009 - 7:52 pm EST

Being stone drunk, totally losing control of your car, and killing someone = 5-7 years, IMO. And legalize pot to make room in the prisons.

fatboy1

December 31, 2009 - 10:42 am EST

Sure lets let one set of substance abusers out of prison to make room for other substance abusers. In fact let's make all drug use legal so that the streets can run red with the blood of everyone since we would not want to discriminate. Alcohol impairs but drugs especially pot "frees the mind" right? Great argument guys.

wscbd

December 31, 2009 - 11:38 am EST

Drugs certainly should be legal. All of them. Legal, but regulated. Let's compare the rates of crime, death and violence as the result of using illicit drugs against those resulting from the fact that those drugs are prohibited. How often do you hear about some random crackhead killing someone versus hearing about a gangster killing someone? It's a no-brainer. Drug violence occurs because of prohibition. Racketeering, gangs and mob violence exist because of prohibition. If drugs, gambling and prostitution were legal, then please, tell us, what would gangs, cartels, etc. have to sustain themselves?