'Pulp Fiction' Writer Sentenced For Fatal DUI Crash

By PopEater / Wire Services Posted Sep 30th 2009 10:41AM

Roger Avary, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of 'Pulp Fiction,' has been sentenced to a year in jail for causing a fatal traffic crash in Southern California. Avary also received five years of probation. He pleaded guilty in August to gross vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving for the 2008 crash that killed a passenger in Avary's Mercedes.

The crash occurred in Ventura County. Authorities say Avary's car was traveling at more than 100 mph when it crashed into a telephone pole. Avary's wife was ejected from the vehicle and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Avary and Quentin Tarantino share the 1995 Academy Award for writing 'Pulp Fiction.' He also co-wrote the screenplay for the movie "Beowulf."

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Tags: pulp fiction, PulpFiction, roger avary, RogerAvary

Comments

(81)

Wednesday 30 September

By Terri

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He got off easy.Celebrity status again.

By Richie Boy

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Celebrity and finance are not the demons within this cautionary tale. Drunk driving laws are an abomination because alcohol is legal. It is a matter of 'there but for the grace of A.A go I.' There is not a judge in the world unaware of a consequence that anyone who indulges could face.
Therefore the law treads lighter on substances which we Tax. Should an Officer of the Court be a drinker and impose a terribly harsh sentence, hypocrisy would be the resounding charge heard throughout the impaired world if he did not act with more compassion. Too often, justice has little to do with being just.

By laineyb

@ Richie Boy
While alcohol may be legal, driving while impaired is not. He choose to drink,he choose to drive and because of his actions a person is dead. One year for taking a life is ridiculous. Especially when in most states you can get more time just for the DWI.

Thursday 01 October

By Jason V

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Let this be evidence that celebrities do NOT get off any easier. Being familiar with the legalities and weighing in histories, I have yet to see a DUI case where the sentence was not the same for a celebrity except in the case of Kiefer Sutherland where he got a far WORSE sentence that included jail time ONLY because he must have had a really dumb lawyer. Most non-celebrities would not have served more than 2 days, whereas Sutherland got 48 DAYS! His lawyer must have been a total idiot for that to have happened.

By dejeve

he was driving drunk at 100mph and only got a year...

Yet another Hollywood menace doing as little time as possible for murder because he has the money.
The system of justice is broke in America.
He drove drunk which led to the death of another, yet only gets a year in jail.

California can just fall off the map for all i care.
That whole state is filled with the worst people in this country.

The only way to fix this system is for the people to take back what is theirs.

By Dverzic

California is NOT filled with the worst people in this country. There are just more people here than in any other state so of course you are going to hear a lot of bad things happening here. Also, because there are so many famous people you tend to here a lot about them, both good and bad. I live in San Jose which is actually one of the safest cities in the entire country!

By Deborah

Please don't lump everyone in California in with these idiots. You just basically said that you want about 100 million people (1/3 of the US population lives in CA) to die just because you hear about a few morons? You have morons in your state, too, but I'm not asking for your state to fall into a black hole.

By fordwv

Murder requires malice and intent to kill. DUI with death, as terrible as it is, is not murder.

By Pamela

This makes me sick. If he had stood in front of this person with a 45 and pulled the trigger he'd have gotten life, or maybe even death. Because he used an automobile to kill he gets a year ?? So I guess it's time to open the prison doors and give all those convicted time served It must be amazing to have both celebrity status and the money to buy this light sentence. Sickening, absolutely sickening !!!

By Rob

guy here killed 3 people this way and got 18 months

By Panama Red

WTF, My best friend got 9 well deserved years for the same charge. He should have gotten 20. Why do people with money always walk.

By Josy

It's all about money here in theis country. Rich people are under the same laws as everyone else.

By Soho

Hey, great writing...but, um, the name of the very unfortunate 'passenger' who was killed in the crash is? What was that, not a celebrity? Not important? Well, thank god you made room to let us know Avary co-wrote the Beowulf screenplay, and got off with a unusually light "celebrity" sentence. Priorities, I understand. Ah, another graduate of the internet/email/blog/live chat school of journalism.

By ThisIsNuts!

Perfectly said, Soho!

Andreas Zini

By Oscar

If it had been a famous actor, instead of a writer, there wouldn't have been ny jail at all.

By Joe

Ted Kennedy got nothing in 1969.

By an williams

Yes that is true however now Ted (and in the future all drunk drivers) is answering to a higher authority than man's laws and I but the reception was not very welcoming to him. You may get away with things here but it will come back to haunt you here on earth and to eternity. Why do you think it says "MAY God have mercy on your soul.

By Patricia

That laughable sentence is an insult & a threat to everyone!!!
Anyone drive 100mph is taking his trapped passenger on a horrifying hell ride & threatening to kill them.
When the freak crashes into a stationary object, he is proving that he is trying very hard to murder someone.
Taking into consideration that he made sure he had a few drinks before he invited the victim to ride with him in his car, proves that it was premeditated murder, & he was making sure he had his his LEGAL DEFENCE all set up, using Drunk Driving as an EXCUSE.
I HAVE NOW HEARD IT ALL!! The whole world is full of SH!T, PURE SH!T & NOTHING BUT SH!T !!
1 YEAR!!!! CRIME TRULY PAYS!!!

By kluj

OUTRAGE OUTRAGE!! this country is ass jack backwards. 1 year. are you kidding me. no wonder nobody takes driving drunk seriously. its a joke. HE KILLED SOMEONE!

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