KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office filed its case against Joseph Cook – more than two weeks after the suspected drunk driver went the wrong way on 50 Highway killing Kevin Daniels, a father of eight – police didn't have to arrest Cook again.
Legal experts not associated with Cook's case said that is a common practice.
"Defendants often have attorneys before charges come out; they know that criminal charges are going to be processed at some point in the future," Chris Mann, an attorney and former Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) chair of the national board of directors, said. "So they'll contact an attorney. And that attorney will make arrangements with the prosecutor's office so that the prosecutor and law enforcement don't have to come out and serve a warrant."
Cook's blood alcohol level was allegedly more than three times the legal limit the night of the crash on March 6, according to court documents. He faces a charge of DWI- resulting in death, a Class B felony.
The D.W.I. charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, but the Daniels family doesn't believe that punishment fits the crime.
"His life should be in prison for the rest of his life because Kevin's life is gone," Kieanna Brooks, Daniels' long-term girlfriend, said. "If you took Kevin's life, your life needs to be behind those bars. Your family shouldn't get to enjoy you on the outside of those walls anymore."
Mann said the charge, while common, isn't made lightly.
"It comes down to the facts that the prosecutors have," Mann said. "Now that means two things. It means, one, that they're trying to get the largest sentence possible, the most significant crime they can charge for this. But number two, they have to make sure that the facts that they have fit the crime. So they look at the totality of the circumstances."
MADD believes these fatalities should be treated like any other murder case. And the punishment should match any other murder case. But in Missouri, that's not the way the law is currently written.
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