Christine Curtin - New Jersey#542176
State: New Jersey
Sentence: 3 years
Offense: Reckless manslaughter in the 2nd degree
Court: Hunterdon County
Priors: Possession of controlled substance (9/14/1999); Theft by deception (1/22/2001); Burglary and theft (4/18/2001)
Date of Birth: 10/30/1980
Date of Sentencing: 11/4/2005
Projected Release Date: 5/4/2008
Nature of Offense: In July 2001 20-year-old Christine Curtin and a girlfriend were hanging out one evening when they received a call from a mutual friend. He wanted the girls to come pick him up at his parent’s house and drive him to purchase heroin. He offered to give each of the girls $20 worth of heroin in exchange for the favor, and the girls, being heroin addicts themselves, agreed to this offer. When he got in the car, they noticed that he had been drinking and saw him take a couple of Xanax pills that a friend of his parents had given him. On the way home from purchasing the drugs they stopped at a gas station where they each snorted some heroin.
As the group drove home, Christine noticed that he was falling asleep in the backseat and that his lips were beginning to turn blue. Neither Christine nor her girlfriend could completely wake him up and they decided to drive him to a friend’s house to consult with her mother about whether or not to take him to the hospital. After their friend’s mother told them to take him to the hospital, Christine called his mother to inform her that her son had been drinking and taking Xanax, and that they were taking him to the hospital. She neglected to mention that he had also taken heroin because she didn’t want to get anyone into further trouble with his parents—a decision she now regrets. Much to Christine’s surprise, his mother instructed the girls to wait there with him and not to take him to a hospital. She told them that he ‘did this kind of stuff all the time’ and that she and his stepfather would pick him up and take him home to sleep it off. His mother and stepfather checked on him twice during the night to make sure he was breathing, but when they went to check on him in the morning, he had stopped breathing and died.
Approximately 8 months after his death, his parents were charged with reckless manslaughter, but the charges were eventually dismissed. On February 2, 2002, after months of investigation, Christine and her girlfriend were both arrested and charged with strict liability for a drug-induced death in the 1st degree, which carried a potential 20-year sentence. After over three years of delays and negotiations, both women pled guilty to the lesser charge of reckless manslaughter in the 2nd degree.
Guideline Sentence: Christine received a sentence of 3 years with a mandatory minimum of 85% and three years parole.
Sentences of Others Involved: Christine's girlfriend received an identical sentence as Christine’s. The man that gave their deceased friend the two Xanax pills is believed to have paid a fine and accepted a plea bargain for distribution of a prescription drug.
Personal Background: Christine and her two brothers were born and raised in New Jersey. Although she was never exposed to drugs or alcohol at home, Christine began experimenting with alcohol at the age of 14 and by the time she was 17 had tried ecstasy and marijuana. She reports that she then quickly became addicted to heroin, prescription pills and alcohol. She entered rehabilitation programs twice, at 18 and 20, but each time proved ineffective and she went right back to using drugs again. Like many other drug addicts, Christine began to commit crimes to support her addiction. Within a span of three months in 2001, Christine stole and forged checks and stole and pawned jewelry from a friend’s house. She was on probation for the first theft charge when Leo overdosed and her probation was consequently violated for her involvement in the incident.
After her probation was violated, Christine entered a halfway house and began to dedicate herself to her rehabilitation. Although she was arrested for the instant offense while in the halfway house, she was allowed to continue living there as a condition of her bail. Christine thrived in this setting. She began to work at a bakery and eventually worked her way up to a management position. She also worked as a night monitor for a rehabilitation center. During this time Christine got married and started to share her experiences at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and local high schools.
At the time of her sentencing, Christine had been sober for nearly four years. Nearly a hundred letters of support were sent to the sentencing Judge and family members, friends, and even students that had heard Christine’s story, were present at her sentencing to show their support. While Christine feels terrible about Leo’s death and wishes she had done more to prevent it, she does not feel she was culpable enough in his death to warrant a sentence of 3 years—particularly because she had stayed in treatment in a halfway house for eight months and another program for an additional two years prior to her sentencing.
Compiled from PSR and inmate information.
BA 5/11/06