Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 26, 1993 TAG: 9310260173
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN BARNES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
Bradley Douglas Callahan of Hurt faces a sentence of up to 10 years in jail for the death of David McKinley Weeks, 39, of Goodview.
The plea came during a pretrial motions hearing Friday. A trial had been scheduled for today and Wednesday. The defendant asked to enter a plea after the judge denied several defense motions to suppress evidence, said Commonwealth's Attorney James Updike.
Callahan and two passengers, Chuck Newman of Altavista and Sarah Hille of Hurt, were driving to Roanoke on Virginia 24 to attend the Guns N' Roses concert April 15 when Callahan lost control of his truck. The truck ran off the left side of the road, hitting a parked car outside Jim's Country Store near the intersection of Virginia 24 and Virginia 608.
Weeks was pronounced dead about an hour later after being airlifted to Roanoke Memorial Hospital. His wife, Sandra, was hospitalized with serious injuries; their 4-year-old daughter was uninjured.
Neither Callahan nor his passengers were hurt.
Callahan admitted to a sheriff's deputy that he had been drinking. A blood test showed his blood alcohol level was 0.08 percent. The legal limit is 0.10.
He also told the deputy that he had smoked marijuana but that drugs found in his truck belonged to someone else.
A witness told the trooper she had seen one of the truck's passengers remove the items from the truck and hide them. Trooper David Martin recovered marijuana, marijuana pipes and other drug paraphernalia from under a nearby oil tank.
The same witness said she saw one of the truck's passengers remove a handgun from the truck, tuck it into his pants and leave the scene in another car.
Callahan remains free on bond until his sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.
by CNB