Grand jury indicts woman in fatal car crash
Thursday, Oct. 1, 1998 | 10:39 a.m.
Josephine Moulchin, who was involved in a head-on collision on U.S. 95 that killed a man and left her injured, has been indicted on charges of drunken driving and involuntary manslaughter by a Clark County Grand Jury.
Moulchin's sport utility vehicle was traveling the wrong way on the expressway near Valley View Boulevard during the pre-dawn incident Aug. 25. Her blood-alcohol level tested at 0.24 percent -- more than twice the legal limit of 0.10 percent, according to Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker.
Wednesday's indictment replaces the need for a Justice Court preliminary hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to hold her for trial in District Court.
The case now goes to the courtroom of District Judge John McGroarty on Oct. 6 for Moulchin's arraignment and trial setting on the charges that could put her in prison for up to 20 years if she is convicted. Probation is not a possibility in a felony DUI case.
Moulchin is alleged to have driven her sport utility vehicle down the wrong freeway ramp at Decatur Boulevard and into oncoming traffic on U.S. 95, narrowly missing one car before slamming head-on into a Mercedes 900 driven by 39-year-old Craig Schofield.
The Sahara casino floor manager died instantly. A motorist pulled Moulchin from her mangled vehicle moments before it burst into flames near the freeway's center divider. The incident tied up traffic on the busy freeway for hours.
Moulchin suffered a spinal fracture, a broken jaw and serious injury to one foot.
Under Nevada law, a DUI charge is elevated to a felony if a collision involves serious injury or death or if there is a third DUI conviction within seven years.
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