Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 10, 1993 TAG: 9304100201
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MAN GETS 9-MONTH TERM FOR FATAL DUI COLLISION
Salem Circuit Judge G.O. Clemens acknowledged Friday that some people would be upset if he didn't send Timothy Scott Chrisman to prison for 10 years.Chrisman had admitted climbing behind the wheel of his car after a night of drinking and causing an accident that claimed the life of 19-year-old Robin Ward Patrick, who was seven months pregnant.
But Clemens asked Patrick's family to consider the fact that most defendants with no previous criminal records are not sent to the penitentiary for involuntary manslaughter.
Clemens - saying he was trying to steer a middle course - sentenced Chrisman to nine months in the Roanoke County Jail.
As he predicted, the sentence outraged the victim's family and advocates for stricter penalties for drunken driving.
"He might as well have not done anything at all," Carolyn S. Smith, the victim's mother, told a reporter outside the courtroom.
"To take two lives and serve nine months in jail is not justice."
John Markey, president of People Against Impaired Driving, called the sentence a "travesty" that will send the wrong message to people who drink and drive.
Chrisman, a 27-year-old sales clerk, broke down in tears as he described the guilt and anguish he has suffered since the Aug. 2 accident.
"I wish I could trade places with her, but I can't," he sobbed.
Chrisman said he had spoken to one youth group about the accident and wanted to spread the word that "you don't have to be falling down drunk to cause an accident."
In his early 20s, Chrisman had volunteered as a rescue squad member and responded to accident scenes of drunken drivers who had killed others.
Chrisman said he had thought it would never happen to him. "That's what everyone believes until they find themselves sitting up here like I am."
He said he had only three beers the night of the accident and had stopped drinking about two hours before he drove home.
Salem Commonwealth's Attorney Fred King said he suspected that Chrisman had minimalized his alcohol consumption that night. Blood tests taken after the accident put his blood alcohol content at 0.12 percent, over the 0.10 percent level at which state law presumes someone is too drunk to drive.
King recommended that Chrisman serve five years in the state penitentiary as a deterrent to drunken drivers. King argued that if Chrisman did not serve time, drunken drivers can shrug and say, "It's just an accident. It's just negligence. I'll feel sorry, but nothing will happen to me."
State sentencing guidelines called for time in a local jail or probation.
Clemens said probation would be inappropriate. "He needs to serve time," the judge said.
Chrisman was sentenced to five years in prison, with all but nine months suspended. Chrisman can apply for work release and could get out of jail for good behavior after serving two or three months.
Chrisman also was forbidden from driving a car for three years and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, at least half of which must involve speaking to community groups about drinking and driving.