Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 28, 1993 TAG: 9305280092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: INDEPENDENCE LENGTH: Medium
Gerald Wayne Edwards was sentenced to 20 years in prison for aggravated manslaughter, with eight years suspended, and one year in the Grayson County jail for driving under the influence for the second time within five years.
Circuit Judge Willis A. Woods said the two sentences will be consecutive, not concurrent, and that Edwards will not be allowed to seek a driver's license during his probationary period after his release.
Woods imposed a $500 fine and revoked Edwards' license for an additional three years on the DUI charge.
Last month, Edwards was convicted in Carroll County General District Court for driving under the influence on Dec. 12. He was fined $500 and given a six-month jail sentence, with all but two days suspended on condition of good behavior for a year. His license was suspended for three years.
In the Galax case, Edwards was driving a car that was involved in a head-on collision on U.S. 58-221 shortly after 9 p.m. Dec. 21.
Warren Kelly "W.K." Dees, a passenger in the other vehicle, died from injuries to the head, chest and abdomen, according to Dr. Juan Rios, medical examiner.
The boy's parents and other friends and family members attended Thursday's trial, which originally was scheduled to be for two days in Grayson County Circuit Court.
Instead, the entire proceeding lasted 20 minutes.
Robert Kaase, one of Edwards' attorneys, said Edwards had asked him to express to the Dees family "his heartfelt sorrow regarding this tragedy."
Commonwealth's Attorney J.D. Bolt said both sides agreed on what the testimony would have been, including accounts from witnesses who saw Edwards' car run onto the curve of the highway, speed through an intersection, cross into the opposite lane and hit the other car.
A blood test at Twin County Community Hospital after the accident showed that Edwards had a blood alcohol level of 0.25 percent, 2 1/2 times the legal limit.
The boy's parents, Michael and Stephannie Dees, had gone to Richmond twice this year to speak to legislative committees considering a bill allowing the immediate suspension of licenses in DUI cases.
Del. Tom Jackson, D-Hillsville, a patron of the House bill, said last month that never before during his six years as a legislator had he seen committee members in tears.
Some left the chamber temporarily while Dees was speaking, he said, and he credited Dees with helping get the bill passed.
It was signed by Gov. Douglas Wilder, but then fell victim to an unrelated squabble between the governor and General Assembly.
It was invalidated because Wilder had not signed it within 30 days of the end of the session. Wilder had returned it to the legislature seeking approval of 10 technical amendments at the March "veto session," got approval of only four, decided instead to sign a version with no amendments and legislators argued that one was not valid.
The new law apparently is dead for this year.
Bolt said after the trial that the Dees family felt that Edwards' sentence "is reasonable and just under the current law, and we hope that in some way this case will prevent other families and communities from having to bear a similar loss, and that the catastrophic ramifications of drinking and driving an automobile will be recognized by all."
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB