A lesson in compassion in a courtroom
By most measures, the family of Santiago “Jimmy” Balderas has every reason to want to see David Maish suffer as they are suffering.
Maish, 40, of Spring Grove, had a blood alcohol content of .142 and was under the influence of prescription painkillers last February when he struck and killed Balderas with his 2006 Hummer. Investigators said he also was composing or receiving a text message on his cellphone at the time of the crash. They said he had sufficient time to see Balderas walking along Route 59 at 9 p.m., but they found no skid marks or other indications he had tried to avoid hitting the 40-year-old Round Lake man.
For most families, those circumstances add up to a call for stiff legal penalties, and few among us would blame them. But the Balderas family? Here are their words, provided in Jimmy’s brother Albert’s written statement to the court considering a plea deal for Maish:
“The truth is that Jimmy is gone and nothing will ever bring him back. So if there is a silver lining in this, it will have to come from David’s sincere effort to make amends for the life he took.
“Be sincere in your effort, not because some court has ordered you to make the effort, but because you want to honor the man you have taken from his family.”
With that, the family endorsed a plea deal reducing the charges against Maish and ensuring a lighter sentence. Prosecutors, in recommending the deal, agreed that the Balderas family wanted “justice,” but also had “compassion” for Maish’s circumstances — his own child, his participation in his church, his obvious remorse.
No one — much less the family of Jimmy Balderas, including a son and two young daughters — takes drunken driving lightly. And yet, in this circumstance, the loved ones left behind have chosen a response that seeks not merely justice but honor and compassion. It’s an approach that many of us would find hard to adopt, but that ultimately benefits all of us.
For his part, Maish seems profoundly saddened by his part in the tragedy. He will undergo alcohol treatment and psychological counseling, in addition to serving the jail time and probation laid out for him in his sentence. And, he will endure the torment of knowing what he has done.
“I have nightmares; I still see the accident,” Maish said in his statement. “I am so very sorry for what I have done, and I pray every day that we can all get through this.”
The Balderas family’s courageous and compassionate reaction may be the answer to those prayers. Albert Balderas’ statement urges Maish, by his future actions, to honor his brother.
It bears observing that the Balderases, by their actions in the midst of the most painful loss, already have.