Amy Locane-Bovenizer's time behind bars may not be over.
The former Melrose Place star, 44, was released from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women on parole last June after serving two and a half years of a three-year prison sentence for a fatal drunk driving incident in 2010. On Friday, the Superior Court of New Jersey filed an appeal, requesting a re-sentencing, as prosecutors believe the original downgraded sentence was too lenient.
According to court documents obtained by ET, the state's issue on appeal is that Locane-Bovenizer's sentence is "illegal because the judge did not impose the correct period of parole ineligibility" and the sentencing court "abused its discretion in imposing a downgraded sentence."
The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office says the sentence sent a "bewildering message" about the penalty for driving under the influence, NJ.com reports. Locane-Bovenizer, who was convicted of vehicular homicide and assault by auto, could have been sentenced for 15 years.
Locane-Bovenizer was convicted of the lesser-degree offense of second-degree vehicular homicide. The trial judge believed longer jail time would be detrimental to her two children, one of whom suffers a serious medical and mental disability, the Associated Press reported at the time.
The accident occurred June 27, 2010, following a cast party Locane-Bovenizer had attended. She then drove to a barbecue and left around 8:30 p.m. On her way home, she drove her SUV into the passenger side of a silver Mercury Milan (she was traveling 53 mph in a 35 mph zone). Helene Seeman was a passenger in the Milan vehicle, which her husband, Fred Seeman, was driving. The 60-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene from severe blunt force trauma. Her husband was left critically injured.
A trial judge found Locane-Bovenizer guilty of driving while intoxicated in a school zone, leaving the scene of the accident and reckless driving. Court documents revealed she was under the influence of alcohol and Ativan.
