People v. Merrick

Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of two counts of aggravated DUI, and sentenced to 8 years in DOC with final 11 months to be served with electronic home monitoring. Defendant's BAC was 0.212, and thus State needed prove only that Defendant's driving caused death of his passenger. State met this burden, as Defendant conceded that his driving caused accident, and evidence showed that passenger died as result of accident, as cause of death was blunt neck and chest trauma. Court properly considered aggravating and mitigating factors, and sentence is not manifestly disproportionate to nature of offense. (LYTTON and WRIGHT, concurring.)