Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 9, 1994 TAG: 9403090186
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Michael Lee Collins, 21, of Pembroke, had asked for a jury trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court but decided sometime before Tuesday to plead guilty based on a plea agreement reached with Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith.
Bradley Byron Fagan, 18, died Aug. 8 on the way to Radford Community Hospital after Collins' car spun out of control and rolled over on McCoy Road.
Keith told Judge Duane Mink that Collins had been drinking heavily the night of the accident. Collins, Fagan and other friends had attended a party at the New River and were leaving to go to a party in Blacksburg, family members said shortly after the accident.
Max Jenkins, Collins' attorney, was successful in blocking, in pretrial motions, the admittance of hospital records showing Collins' blood-alcohol content.
But Keith said that had the case gone to trial, several witnesses who attended the party and rescue squad personnel would have testified that Collins was intoxicated. Collins was heading east on McCoy Road when he took his eyes off the road, according to an accident report from the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. When Collins looked back to the road, he could not react in time to negotiate a curve and lost control of the car. The vehicle spun and flipped onto its top before sliding to a stop.
Keith said an autopsy showed Fagan died of massive head trauma.
Collins was sentenced to eight years in prison , but five years will be suspended after he serves three years. He will be placed on probation for five years. A special condition of the probation is that his driving privileges are indefinitely suspended. The maximum punishment Collins could have received was 10 years in prison.
by CNB