A man has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of DUI resulting in death and driving on a revoked license for DUI, in a plea bargain that got him off the hook for felony DUI resulting in death, as reported by the Journal News.
D.M., 49, of Inwood, made the plea agreement in May following a indictment by a Berkeley County grand jury in October 2011. Along with reducing the charges from felony to misdemeanor, another charge, of having no proof of insurance, was dropped.
The single-vehicle accident occurred on May 9, 2011 and resulted in the death of D.M.'s friend and passenger, H.G., 46.
Both men were drinking on the evening of the accident.
The state, unable to prove that D.M. committed the act with reckless disregard for the safety of others, was unable to provide the requirements of a felony DUI resulting in death statute.
Before his sentencing D.M. had said that he was sorry for what should never have occurred, and during his sentencing D.M. admitted, "I had failed to maintain control of my vehicle due to too much alcohol."
D.M. was sentenced to one year of jail time for the DUI with death conviction, six months for DUI in a revoked license; both sentences to be served consecutively and both were suspended.
The suspension allows D.M. to serve five years of probation and one year of jail time – on the weekends.
West Virginia 23rd Circuit Judge John Yoder also ordered that D.M. pay restitution, cover the costs of his jail time, perform 500 community service hours, attend AA meetings, go through alcohol and drug rehabilitation and maintain employed.
Judge Yoder commented, "I'm not happy with any of the options."
Timothy Helman, the Berkeley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, said "The defendant has a history of alcohol abuse and alcohol-related offenses. Now another human being is dead."
Helman that it was hard to see past the fact that D.M. was driving with a revoked license due to a DUI record and his blood alcohol in this crash registered at .336 percent.
Helman further blamed the state's DUI with death statute, contending that is badly worded if the state wanted to pursue a felony conviction. Helman commented, "It is what it is."
Helman argued for a year of jail time for the DUI with death conviction, six months for driving on a revoked license – which could be suspended for five years of supervised probation, 500 hours of community service, 90 AA meetings in 90 days, drug and alcohol rehabilitation and $8,214 in restitution.
Craig Manford, D.M.'s attorney, asked for probation over jail time. He said the incident was "very tragic and unfortunate" and that "…there was no intent for anything like this to happen."
Yoder explained that his sentence reflected a desire to have more control over D.M.'s supervision because his "concern has to do with protecting the safety of the public in the future".
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