Ex-'Melrose Place' Actress Amy Locane Sentenced To 3 Years In Fatal NJ Crash
SOMERVILLE, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- There was drama in a New Jersey courtroom Thursday when a judge sentenced a former "Melrose Place'' actress to three years in prison.
CBS 2's Christine Sloan got an exclusive look at the dramatic sentencing.
Amy Locane-Bovenizer faced up to 10 years in prison after a jury in November convicted her of vehicular homicide in the 2010 death of 60-year-old Helene Seeman in Montgomery Township.
She was sentenced to three years Thursday. The judge lowered the maximum sentence due to the hardship on Locane-Bovenizer's children, one of whom has a medical and mental disability.
The prosecution said with time served, Locane-Bovenizer could be out of prison in just six months, Sloan reported.
After the sentencing, the victim's husband Fred Seeman yelled "what a travesty" at the judge.
Holding a picture of his family, Seeman wanted Locane-Bovenizer to know what her decision to drink, drive and kill his wife has done to him, Sloan reported.
"She made me what I am today and to have it taken from you in a blink," Seeman said.
The actress apologized to Seeman's family. "Please know the reality that I did cause you such loss haunts me everyday. I hope you know I never set out intentionally to put anyone at risk," Locane-Bovenizer said.
The judge told Locane-Bovenizer he had no sympathy for her.
Locane-Bovenizer's blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit when the crash occurred as the victim's husband turned into their driveway.
The defense conceded she was driving under the influence, but her lawyer claimed a woman was chasing her after an earlier accident, forcing her to speed.
Seeman's son Ford, wearing his mother's dress around his neck, came face-to face with Locane-Bovenizer during the victim impact statement phase, Sloan reported.
"My whole life I lived to do one thing ... Make her proud," Ford said. "The act of murder. My mother deserves a harsher sentence than armed robbery -- her diamond necklace wasn't taken her life was."
"This is not justice," Fred and Ford Seeman said to the judge. "She didn't go home that night. What are you thinking judge?"
Locane-Bovenizer appeared in 13 episodes of TV's "Melrose Place" and in movies including "Cry-Baby," "School Ties" and "Secretary."
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