JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman who has spent a dozen years behind bars for a deadly crash on the Buckman Bridge could be leaving prison as soon as this weekend, but prosecutors are trying to keep Sasha Pringle locked up.
After serving 12 years of a 15-year sentence in the 2010 crash that killed Luma Kajy, a mother of two children, the Department of Corrections website shows Pringle is scheduled for release Saturday — but there’s a hitch.
Pringle was originally convicted on two counts: DUI manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crash. She was supposed to serve 30 years, but a federal judge threw out the conviction on the second charge, leaving her with a sentence of 15 years, being released early at the 12-year mark — and prosecutors stepped in.
Now, they’re working to try her again on the charge of leaving the scene of a crash.
“I’ve never seen that before,” said attorney Belkis Plata, who is not affiliated with the case. “It’s an interesting case in that the state of Florida, you know, there was an appeal, and the defendant won on having one of the counts removed, which would have kept her in prison for up to 30 years. So the state is not letting up and they want her to be convicted on that count.”
Because prosecutors still want Pringle to serve more time and are pushing for her to be re-tried, the State Attorney’s Office asked a judge to order her back to the Duval County jail, which was granted.
Plata suspects her attorneys will fight that and request their client have a bond set immediately so that she can get out.
“She’s going to be entitled to a bond because she will have completed her sentence. At this point, the state’s looking to try her on another count so she’s done with the time she was supposed to serve,” Plata said.
And because they’re two separate offenses, it doesn’t fall under the definition of double jeopardy.
“While they happened around the same time, double jeopardy has to be attached to it, and the state previously filed something that the court waive speedy trial as to count 2, which is leaving the scene of an accident, as this gets flushed out,” Plata said.
Family members of Kajy said they hadn’t decided yet whether they will comment publicly.