SOMERVILLE, N.J. – A New Jersey prosecutor is appealing a reduced sentence of three years in prison given to a former “Melrose Place” actress for a drunken driving death.

Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano said Tuesday that the judge in the case of Amy Locane-Bovenizer sent a “bewildering message” about driving while intoxicated.

He said Superior Court Judge Robert Reed had improperly focused on the defendant’s personal circumstances.

Locane-Bovenizer was convicted of vehicular homicide and assault by auto in the 2010 death of 60-year-old Helene Seeman of Montgomery Township. She had faced up to 10 years in prison on the most serious count.

But Judge Reed last week cited the woman’s need to care for a disabled child in deciding to lower the maximum sentence. The victim’s relatives reacted angrily to the reduction.