Melrose Place actress: How jail changed my life
Actress Amy Locane, famous for her stint as Sandy on the first season of Melrose Place and for appearances in films such as Cry-Baby and School Ties, has given her first interview since going to jail for her role in a 2010 drink driving accident that left one woman dead.
On Jan. 13, a judge ruled Locane, 44, would serve no further time for killing 60-year-old Helene Seeman in the crash; she had already served nearly 2 ½ years of a three-year sentence. Three days later, Locane admitted she “was prepared for the worst and hoping for the best” in her first statement to the press in more than six years.
Locane, who has two daughters, opened up about her time in prison, saying she focused on reading books, attending Alcoholics Anonymous, leading the rehabilitation house at the prison and writing letters to her daughters aged 8 and 10. “Being in prison is dehumanising,” said Locane. “You take a shower with 60 other women. You have no privacy. It’s not like I didn’t deserve to be in prison … but for people to think I got a free pass is simply not true.”
Locane, whose younger daughter Avery has Crohn’s disease, was released from prison on parole in June 2015. In November, her now-estranged husband Mark Bovenizer served her with divorce papers. She was facing an additional six months in prison, but at the Jan. 13 resentencing hearing, Judge Robert B. Reed granted her leniency and downgraded her sentence.
“When someone sees the good in you and gives you a second chance,” said Locane, “you don’t want to disappoint them.” She is mulling over writing a book, and says “I want to help woman in prison make a smooth transition to society once they’re release. That’s important to me. All I can do is stay sober—and make a life living amends to the life of Helene Seeman.”