Natalie Pierre Williams in critical condition after car wreck

Does this seem a little strange? I mean, if this is what happened, she intentionally started a fire, which could have spread and endangered nearby apartment buildings. Being injured in the act of committing a crime doesn't usually get you immunity from said crime, right?

 

So you're going to charge a person who was burned over 75 percent of her body for starting a fire that didn't do damage anyone else's property?

 

You're both right.

 

It sounds like this may have been a botched murder-suicide, or at least the latter. I would think charges are still on the table if she recovers. Right now, though, it's PR driving the announcement of no charges.

 

So, she's crazy.
Now, this all makes sense.

 

Still noticeably missing from this story is any background on the husband, especially his criminal past in Florida before they were married. Would definitely add some perspective to this all.

There's little doubt he is not a good person, and while Natalie didn't deserve this and I hope she recovers as fully as she can, this report (on top of her past journalistic shortcomings) may show she isn't such a good person, either.

 

Right this very second? Not likely. If she dies? Obviously not. But if she makes a full recovery, then why does she get away with doing something that she almost certainly would not have were she not injured by it? Unless it's legal to set uncontrolled fires in public in Alabama? I think Sunshine's right here: It's an optics move to dismiss talk of charges because if they did file them, they could face blowback. But at the same time, at some point you have to go through the motions, lest the precedent be set that doing illegal things that didn't cause damage to others are no longer illegal.

 

"Defendant is sentenced to time already served."

That's pretty much the rationale here.

 

There might not be any background on the husband in this one since the original story sounded like AL.com was saying he did it. Granted the husband is not a boy scout by any means but he might be looking at exploring libel charges.

 

1. If getting burned over 75 percent of your body and scarred for life doesn't discourage someone, unlikely that 6 months probation will.
2. If authorities charged every suspect with every felony they believed they committed, we'd run out of room to build prisons.

 

Declining to charge is not public relations, it's human decency.

Sometimes, when looking at the balance of justice, it makes no sense to bring charges even though you know you could prove them in a court of law. It seems readily apparent that if she survives, she will live with a far deeper punishment every day than the court system could impose.

 

Wait, what??

The husband admittedly made the very unwise decision to marry a crazy person, but I haven't seen any evidence that there is "little doubt" that he's not a good person.

In fact, he appears to be a hero who saved her from a burning vehicle.

Given that many commenters on the original story seemed convinced that he was trying to murder her, I think the husband probably deserves to be cut some slack.