Woman charged in DWI golf cart death of bride could be freed to NJ

The attorneys for the New Jersey woman who fatally rear-ended a golf cart carrying a just-married couple in South Carolina have filed a motion that could release her from prison and return her to New Jersey.

Jamie Lee Komoroski, who grew up in Clinton, has been in a Charleston jail since April 28. Officials say she was three times the legal limit when she was charged with drunk driving after hitting the golf cart at 65 mph.

The impact killed bride Samantha Miller, 34, and left husband Aric Hutchinson severely injured.

Her attorneys, former Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni and former federal prosecutor Nathan S. Williams, have filed a motion for bond with the South Carolina Court of General Sessions, according to WCIV TV.  The motion proposes that bail be set at $100,000, which would release Komoroski to the custody of her mother.

Terms of the motion

Komoroski would live with her mother in Brick, successfully complete an inpatient rehabilitation program and have no access to a vehicle or alcohol. If the judge does not want her to leave the state If Komoroski cannot return to NJ her mother is willing to take a leave of absence from her job as a paraprofessional and rent an apartment in Charleston, S.C.

The motion also warned that Komoroski’s portrayal in the media as a person who partied in college “serve only to inflame public sentiment and remain irrelevant to the determination as to whether Ms. Komoroski poses a flight risk or any danger to the community."

Gramiccioni and Williams said in the motion that photographs showing Komoroski at parties "paint a picture of the accused as an unrepentant villain who ostensibly had a history of partying."

Wrongful death lawsuit

Hutchinson has filed a wrongful death suit against Komoroski and four bars that served "copious amounts of alcohol” to a “visibly intoxicated” woman.

Hutchinson and other family members seek unspecified damages. Miller experienced “conscious physical pain” before she died, the complaint says, and Hutchinson has suffered “psychological trauma” after witnessing her death.

The lawsuit contends the bars either allowed Komoroski to become intoxicated or continued serving her alcohol when they should have recognized her inebriated state. According to the toxicology report Komoroski told police she had two drinks an hour before the accident: a beer and a tequila pineapple.

Gramiccioni said he is Komoroski representing only in the criminal case.

Conversations behind bars

Komoroski has gone through a gamut of emotions from despair to confidence while behind bars, according to recordings of conversations with family friends obtained by The Post and Courier.

She has bemoaned that she could be spending "years and years and years and years" in jail. Her father, who reminded her that jail visit conversations are recorded, told her to "suck it up" and adjust to her surroundings.

Komoroski has been visited by her boyfriend, whom she offered to break up with, and  friends who have offered support. She has also predicted show would spend no time in prison because the golf cart crash was a "freak accident."

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Dan Alexander is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com

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