ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 24, 1996 TAG: 9605240064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
THE DRUNKEN DRIVER who killed a young man in an accident said he wishes that night were just a ``bad dream.''
It was past midnight and the three siblings had just finished work. They had put in an extra hour at their laundering jobs in Northwest Roanoke.
As Thu Van Ma pulled out of National Linen Service's driveway, his car stalled. And for 10 seconds the gray Toyota sat in the westbound lane of the 3400 block of Shenandoah Avenue.
A short distance away, Mark Mullins got into his white Camaro. After about four beers, he was ending a night at the Shenandoah Restaurant. As he crested a dip in the road, he crashed. Mullins says the last thing he remembers seeing was the hood of his car crinkling like an accordion.
"I knew I hit something when I seen my hood," he testified in Roanoke Circuit Court Thursday. "I wish this was a bad dream."
Mullins' car ripped into the driver's side of Ma's Toyota. The impact killed Thu Van Ma - breaking the 29-year-old's neck. Ma's brother and sister were critically injured.
Mullins, who suffered a minor head injury, was charged with drunken driving and involuntary manslaughter. His blood-alcohol level was later determined to be 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit for driving.
Thursday, Roanoke Circuit Judge Robert P. Doherty sentenced Mullins, 30, to three years in prison for the Oct. 18 crash. He also ordered that Mullins pay Thu Van Ma's funeral expenses and more than $22,700 in medical bills for Qua Van Ma, 22, and Hau Thi Ma, 24. The brother and sister each had their spleens removed.
Mullins' attorney, Richard Lawrence, argued that his client could not be held totally responsible for the accident. That stretch of road was extremely dark, especially around 1 a.m., when the accident occurred. A street light has since been placed in the area.
And the Mas' dark-colored car stalled, making them partially culpable for the accident, Lawrence argued.
"Under the best conditions, [Mullins] had 6.8 seconds to do something about it," he said outside the courtroom.
But Mullins' reaction time was slowed because of his drinking and the traces of cocaine found in his blood, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Wanda DeWease. She painted Mullins as a man who indulged in risky behavior, citing his admission to a probation officer that he drank between two and eight beers every other day and that he smoked between three and five marijuana cigarettes a week.
"This was a senseless taking of the life of another human being," she said. "Thu Ma has lost his life. A family has lost its son. A community has lost a citizen who abided by the law."
In March, Mullins pleaded guilty to drunken driving and involuntary manslaughter. As part of the plea agreement he faced a maximum prison sentence of six years.
The Ma family moved from Vietnam to the United States two years ago, DeWease said. Thursday the family sat in court and listened to Mullins' pleas for forgiveness through an interpreter.
"I'm so sorry," Mullins said, wiping away tears. "I wish it could have been me instead of one of your family members. I didn't mean to take anyone's life. I'm sorry."
To Doherty, Mullins said, "I'm here to get what I deserve. I'm going to be a man about it and take what I can get."
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