Crippled ex-Pennsbury student gets probation for drug offenses
Ashley Zauflik lost her left leg in a bus accident in 2007.
Crippled ex-Pennsbury student gets probation for drug offenses
Ashley Zauflik, the former Pennsbury High School student who lost a leg when she was run over by a bus, will be allowed to clear her record of marijuana use and possession charges, a Bucks County judge ruled Tuesday.
Zauflik, 22, of Fairless Hills, was given one-year probation for the possession charge and six months’ probation for the DUI charge, to run concurrently.
Her record will be cleared after she completes the probation and community service, so long as she does not commit any other crimes, Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. said.
Zauflik also had her drivers’ license suspended for 60 days, and was ordered to complete a safe-driving course and pay court costs.
She has completed her community service by doing volunteer work for Falls Fire Co. No. 1, said her lawyer, William Goldman.
“Ashley is doing very well,” Goldman said of Zauflik, who stood next to him on crutches, without her prosthesis. She declined to comment.
Zauflik was arrested twice in April – once while driving her silver Kia and the other while parked in a lot.
The young woman, who underwent more than 25 surgeries and procedures following the January 2007 accident, “was self-medicating herself,” Goldman said.
She qualified for two programs to clear her record because she was a first-time offender and the crimes did not involve violence, Goldman said.
Assistant District Attorney Robert James said the disposition of the case was routine.
Zauflik was the most seriously hurt of about 20 students who were run over by an out-of-control Pennsbury bus outside the high school. She was in a medically induced coma for days and in the hospital for a month.
In December, a Bucks County jury awarded Zauflik $14 million in her civil suit against the school district, which stipulated that its bus driver had caused the accident. The driver has maintained that the bus malfunctioned.
But, in May, Judge Robert J. Mellon reduced the award to $500,000, based on a state liability cap for school districts and municipalities.
Zauflik’s lawyers have appealed the verdict to Commonwealth Court and expect to end up in state Supreme Court with a challenge of the liability cap.
What a shame. She took natural medicine over the doctor prescribed SYNTHETIC HEROIN. What was she thinking? She's supposed to get addicted to prescription medication like everyone else. Shame on her. She needs to get on those Perks and Oxys like a good Pharma addict. Right?— Economics- Keep it at home. Do it at home and no ones knows.— harbc
- economics is right how dare she not become a slave to big pharma
— cuso20 - What a waste of tax payer money. Decriminalize it. The war on drugs has failed. Fact.— Northcountry
- I want to first say I could care less if you smoke pot or not. But a good friend of mine knew her in high school and said, prior to the incredibly traumatic incident, she was known as a drug user. So I'm sorry but I dont buy the "she was doing it for medical reasons"— Cgrebe
- Cgreber- That good friend of yours known as a gossiper. Whats your point? "She was a drug user" could be equivalent to "A friend of mine saw her last night at that party and her eyes were bloodshot". Stop making mountains out of molehills, not everyone that does drugs is a danger to society. As a matter of fact, pot smokers tend to cause less violence and boost the economy with their munchies purchases. To all stoners: Support your local economy, buy your munchies from mom-n-pop shops!— jevans
- I think Judge Mellon should be required to take care of Ashley at his home the moment the 500 grand runs out.— drbob1
Comment removed.- police are allowed some discretion and should be ashamed of themselves for putting this girl through any more hassle than absolutely necessary— box297
- Perhaps now the nation can begin to wake up from its collective nightmare now that this menace has been dealt with.
smh— TheodorePikul
