Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 27, 1992 TAG: 9203270386
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
Terry Dillon, 27, of Salem was ordered not to operate a boat in the state of Virginia for a year and was fined $330 for the November accident which left his 30-year-old brother, Victor, dead.
A third man in the boat - who had not been charged with any crime after the accident - ended up in jail after Thursday's hearing in Bedford General District Court.
C.J. McAlexander, who was subpoenaed as a witness in Dillon's case, was found guilty of contempt of court after he was given a Breathalyzer test for alcohol in the courtroom.
McAlexander, who told the judge that the odor on his breath came from cough syrup, registered a .19 percent blood alcohol level, which is almost double the legal limit for driving - or boating.
Judge James Farmer shook his head and sentenced the 30-year-old McAlexander to a day in Bedford County Jail.
"No problem," McAlexander said, grinning, as a sheriff's deputy escorted him out.
"The only thing I can do is what I just did," Farmer said. "Get him sober for once in his adult life."
Of Dillon's case, witnesses recalled watching the 11-foot boat The only thing I can do is what I just did. Get him sober for once in his adult life. Judge James Farmer Sentencing a witness who appeared intoxicated tooling around the lake's Beaverdam Creek section the afternoon of Nov. 16.
The three men were talking loudly, cursing and waving a vodka bottle as they trolled around in circular patterns, two fishermen testified.
A lake resident telephoned game wardens around 6:10 p.m. to alert them to the rowdy boaters, but by the time warden Daryl Hatcher arrived, the boat had capsized.
Terry Dillon told Hatcher that McAlexander stood up in the boat, flipping all three men out.
A passerby pulled McAlexander from the cold water. Terry Dillon tried to drag his brother toward a buoy, but couldn't, Dillon told Hatcher.
"He said he felt responsible for his brother's death," Hatcher testified.
Earlier in the day, Dillon said, he had asked his brother to wear the only life vest in the boat. Victor Dillon, who could not swim, refused and sat on the flotation device, Terry Dillon told Hatcher.
Dillon also told Hatcher that he had consumed just three beers that day.
At the time of the accident, however, he had a blood alcohol content of about .17 percent, attorneys on both sides stipulated during Thursday's hearing.
Still, Public Defender Webster Hogeland argued that there was reasonable doubt about whether Dillon actually was operating the boat. Dillon testified Thursday that the motor quit working and that the men were paddling the boat.
But Dillon had said earlier that he was at the helm of the trolling motor when the boat flipped, Bedford County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Philip Baker pointed out. A witness, too, said the motor was functioning.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 31, 1992.
Clarification
A headline and story Friday about the conviction of a Salem man for drunken boating may have left the impression that his $330 fine was for an accident that killed his brother. Terry Dillon was convicted of drunken boating and of not having enough life preservers on the boat but was not charged with any criminal responsibility tied to the death of his brother, Victor.
Memo: CORRECTION