THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 11, 1994 TAG: 9408110552
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
A man whose three best friends were killed when he wrecked his car - reportedly after drinking as much as a 12-pack of beer - was sentenced to seven years in prison Wednesday for drunken driving and involuntary manslaughter.
Timothy White, 23, was ordered to serve two years for each victim, plus one year for killing one victim's unborn baby.
Relatives of the victims said they were disappointed with White's sentence, which could have been as high as 31 years under Virginia law. State sentencing guidelines, however, called for probation or no more than a year in jail because it was White's first conviction.
Circuit Judge Rodham Delk said he did not order the maximum sentence because White pleaded guilty and because he was not ``outrageously drunk'' the night of the crash. But Delk said he strayed from the more lenient sentencing guidelines because of a growing sentiment toward stiff penalties for drunken drivers.
``It's apparent that the policies of this state, as well as the sensibilities of the public, have changed,'' Delk said. ``And those guidelines are not consistent with the sensibilities of this judge, either.''
White was driving a blue Mazda sedan with three friends last Nov. 30 when he swerved and struck a guardrail on Godwin Boulevard. Police do not know how fast he was driving because there were no skid marks, but the force of the crash split the car in half. The two pieces came to rest about 80 feet apart.
White's 21-year-old girlfriend, Susan D. Moore, and his best friend, 29-year-old Robert E. King, were pronounced dead at the scene.
A third passenger, 33-year-old Jo Ann Bradshaw, died from head injuries four days later at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. She was three months pregnant.
All were from Suffolk.
A blood test taken two hours after the crash showed White had a 0.10 percent blood-alcohol level, then the minimum required for a drunken-driving conviction. White pleaded guilty to drunken driving and three counts of involuntary manslaughter last May.
Prosecutors reported that White told paramedics the night of the crash that he had consumed a 12-pack of beer, and he often stumbled and slurred his speech. He was combative, said he didn't remember what had happened and refused treatment, claiming he was a registered nurse, emergency workers said.
White's attorney argued for leniency, saying the unemployed construction worker was remorseful and willing to reimburse the victims' families for funeral expenses.
``I just want to tell the families I'm really sorry,'' White said in court Wednesday. He declined to be interviewed Wednesday afternoon at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail.
But relatives of some of the victims said White had never apologized before, and was looking only for sympathy from the judge.
``How can you say seven years is enough for someone who kills people?'' asked Mary Bradshaw, Jo Ann Bradshaw's mother.
``I love my family, and now there's just a big piece of the pie gone. He should have gotten what was coming to him.''
Judge Delk added a year to White's sentence for killing Bradshaw, saying, ``You can't put a price on a human life, but I can't ignore the fact that Miss Bradshaw was pregnant.''
He also gave White the maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $2,500 fine for drunken driving, a misdemeanor, but ordered the sentence to run concurrent with his manslaughter sentences. White will serve 10 years of probation when released.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY DRUNK DRIVING SENTENCING by CNB