Husband of victim in 'Melrose Place' crash: 'Our feelings have been validated'

Former actress facing resentencing in fatal drunk-driving crash. Watch video

MONTGOMERY -- The husband of the woman killed by former "Melrose Place" actress Amy Locane-Bovenizer in a 2010 drunk-driving crash feels vindicated.

Fred Seeman was outraged by the three-year sentence Locane-Bovenizer received on February 14, 2013 in the death of his wife, Helene Seeman. He shouted at the judge. He held up a family photo. He stormed out of the courtroom.

On July 22, the state's Superior Court Appellate Division expressed their outrage as well, ruling that the judge didn't provide adequate explanation for the light sentence and ordering a resentencing hearing.

Locane-Bovenizer could have been sentenced to up to 15 years.

"The Appellate Division affirmed the conviction and our feelings," Seeman told NJ Advance Media on Monday. "We now feel our feelings have been validated and justified. You have learned, experienced justices who basically said the judge was wrong.

"And they didn't even leave it at that. They pointed out exactly where he was wrong. They said they were 'distressed' by the court's failure to recognize what the family and prosecutor said. It was an amazing 50-plus page decision. They left no stone unturned in examining every aspect of the trial. "

Locane-Bovenizer, 44, was convicted of vehicular homicide and assault by auto in the crash that killed Helene Seeman and sentenced to three years for each charge to run concurrently. She was released from prison on parole in June of 2015 after serving two and a half years.

When Judge Robert B. Reed cited the actress' two small children, one of whom has Crohn's disease, as the reason for his leniency, Seeman yelled to the judge that having sick kids isn't a get-out-of-jail pass.

The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office appealed the sentence, saying it sent a "bewildering message" about the penalty for drunken driving. A date for the resentencing hearing hasn't been set. It's unclear if Judge Reed will preside over the resentencing hearing.

'Melrose Place' actress Amy Locane sentencing in 2013

The appeals court didn't suggest a proper sentence. Locane-Bovenizer was sentenced under the guidelines for third-degree vehicular homicide, even though she was found guilty of the crime in the second-degree.

"We just want whatever is called for under the law, nothing more, nothing less," said Seeman, who applauded the efforts of Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Murphy in the case.

The state's public defender's office, which represented Locane-Bovenizer in the appeal, declined to comment on the Appellate Division's ruling.

"Judge Reed watched us pour our souls out and then right in front of us he ignored us," said Seeman, a lawyer. "We will again put forth before the judge that we believe that a stronger message has to be sent to anyone who wants to drink and drive. There's a price to be paid. Society can't withstand these losses.

"My wife was an extraordinary woman and now she's gone. I don't want anymore wives, anymore mothers to be lost. My son is about to have a granddaughter and my wife will never be able to hold her. This has to stop. People can't drink and drive."

Locane-Bovenizer's blood-alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit on June 27, 2010 when her SUV crashed into a Mercury Milan turning into a driveway in Montgomery Township, prosecutors said.  She was driving 53 mph in a 35 mph zone, prosecutors said.

Helene Seeman, the passenger in the Milan, was killed in the crash. Fred Seeman was critically injured. He said he recently underwent surgery to repair a hole in his diaphragm resulting from the crash.

Seeman insists the family hasn't lived the past three years stewing in bitterness about how Locane-Bovenizer got off with a slap on the wrist.

"We tried not to focus on that because you can't live your life like that," he said. "We left it up to the courts."

Locane-Bovenizer expresses remorse for fatal accident

In its ruling, the three-judge appellate panel said that the "defendant's sentence must be vacated for resentencing as it is illegal in departing from the mandatory-minimum sentence, as it failed to meet the high standard for a downgraded sentence, and as concurrent sentence were an abuse of discretion."

The panel said that "the trial judge did not identify compelling reasons to downgrade defendant's second-degree offense, other than harm to defendant's children."

Locane-Bovenizer filed a cross-appeal challenging the underlying merits of her conviction.

The Seeman family has filed a wrongful death civil suit stemming from the crash.

"As a family, we relive it every day," said Seeman. "When people talk about closure, it's something that happens to somebody else. It doesn't happen to the family that endures it. My wife's death has left a huge hole in our lives and it'll never be replaced. All of this doesn't change that."