‘Melrose Place’ actress Amy Locane resentenced to 8 years in prison for fatal DWI crash

SOMERVILLE – Former "Melrose Place" actress Amy Locane was resentenced to eight years in prison Thursday for a drunk-driving crash that killed a woman in Montgomery in 2010.

Locane was given eight years for second-degree vehicular homicide and 18 months for fourth-degree assault by auto, which will be served concurrently with the eight-year sentence.

Under the No Early Release Act, Locane must serve six years, nine months and 22 days in prison before becoming eligible for parole. She was also ordered to serve three years’ probation after her release.

The sentence was handed down by Somerset County Superior Court Judge Angela Borkowski. It was the fourth time Locane, 48, was sentenced for the crash that killed 60-year-old Helene Seeman.

Fred Seeman, a New York attorney, was driving with his wife around 9 p.m. on June 27, 2010 and turning into the driveway of their weekend home when Locane struck their vehicle while going about 20 mph over the 35 mph speed limit.

READ:Amy Locane: Somerset County prosecutors seeking convicted actress to be sentenced for fourth time

According to Borkowski, Locane was at several parties earlier that day drinking wine and believed her then-husband was going to drive her home. But when her husband drove home with their children without her, Locane decided to drive drunk, Borkowski said. 

"The fact that you are still trying to place partial blame on others without accepting full responsibility for what happened that day supports the finding that the risk is present that you will commit another offense," Borkowski said.

Seeman, speaking at the sentencing, said Locane never accepted responsibility for the death of his wife.

He asked Borkowski to "send a message" with her sentence.

His son, Ford Seeman, also spoke to Borkowski.

He said his young daughter, who he named Helena, recently asked him about his mother.

"She asked me the other day about my mom," he said. "She asked me what color her eyes were. And I couldn't tell her. I couldn't remember, and it broke me up."

Before she was sentenced, Locane spoke before Borkowski and said she was "truly sorry."

"I hope that after today, we can all live another life," she said. 

Locane was represented by Somerville-based attorney James Wronko, who is now her boyfriend, according to Borkowski. The judge said the relationship does not present a conflict of interest because Wronko only represented Locane during her resentencings, not her trial.

Wronko asked Borkowski to sentence Locane to two years in prison.

"This is a strange a situation because Ms. Locane has literally served a sentence," he said. "Your Honor has to look at who Ms. Locane was 10 years ago and her progression to who she is today."

Somerset County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Murphy represented the state.

Murphy said Locane's previous sentences were not lawful.

"She never served a sentence under the law," he said. "She never served a sentence because a lawful, legally supportable sentence has never been imposed. Today is that day."

Borkowski, before sentencing Locane, recounted the night of the crash. She said Locane had crashed into another car before hitting the Seeman.

When she crashed into the first vehicle near the intersection of Route 206 and Cherry Valley Road, the driver attempted to take the keys out of Locane's ignition and call 911 because she appeared drunk.

Locane, however, drove around the other car and then crashed, "without swerving or braking," into the side of the Seemans' vehicle while they were turning into their driveway, Borkowski said.

Locane's vehicle went into a ditch. Fred Seeman, whose car hit a tree, was badly injured. Helene was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her death was witnessed by her youngest son, who ran out of the house when he heard the crash, according to Borkowski.

Borkowski said Locane was "laughing and giggling" when she was questioned by police.

Her blood alcohol content was 0.23%.

Fred Seeman suffered rib fractures and a punctured lung, among other injuries, in the crash. 

"There was a substantial risk of death had he not received treatment," Borkowski said.

He left the hospital after only 36 hours "in order to attend his wife's funeral," Borkowski said. 

Helene's death was determined to be "'sudden and immediate," Borkowski said. Her injuries included lacerations and contusions covering her entire body, multiple fractures, her left lung and rib cage collapsed, and her head had been dislocated at the base of her skull.

Locane, who Borkowski said is divorced, unemployed and lives with and is supported by Wronko, has two children who are 13 and 11. Her youngest child has Crohn's disease.

Locane's last sentencing was in February 2019 when she was sentenced to five years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Kevin Shanahan.

It was the fourth sentencing for Locane, the former actress who starred with Johnny Depp in “Cry-Baby” and came after an appellate court agreed with the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office that retired Judge Robert Reed's sentence should be modified.

Locane previously had been sentenced to three years in state prison on charges of vehicular homicide and assault by auto.

The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office appealed the sentence. An appellate court decision called Locane's sentencing "excessively lenient." The appellate court ordered that she return to Superior Court for a new sentencing.

The appellate court ruled that the third sentencing must be performed by a new judge because Reed, who presided over the trial and the first two sentencings, did not follow the appellate court's ruling after the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office successfully appealed the first sentencing as being too lenient.

Reed, who presided over the trial, refused to modify his sentence during Locane's second resentencing.

Locane went to prison in 2013 and was released on June 12, 2015. She was unsuccessful in the appeal of her conviction.

Since being released from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Union Township in Hunterdon County, Locane, who says she hasn't consumed alcohol since the fatal crash, has begun speaking to youth about the dangers of alcohol. 

On Thursday, she was again led out of a courtroom in handcuffs, headed back to Edna Mahan.

Email: ngmuscavage@gannettnj.com

Nick Muscavage is a watchdog reporter for the Courier News, Home News Tribune and MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to his investigative work that has exposed wrongdoing and changed state law, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.