DUI manslaughter defendant to spend a year in prison
By By Suzanne Monk / managing editor
April 12, 2003
A young mother began a one-year stay in prison Friday afternoon the end of a story that began in April 2001 as Penny Therrell and Russell McCann set out to meet friends.
It was a Saturday and they had been dating for several weeks.
They ate at McDonald's and then went on to the Hungry Heifer, arriving sometime after 8 p.m. Their next stop was the lounge at Howard Johnson's.
Everyone left Hojo's at about 12:30 a.m.
Penny said Russell asked her to drive because he worked for BellSouth and would lose his job if he was arrested for DUI. The couple took a detour along Vally Road on their way to Meehan. Penny said she wanted to show Russell some places from her childhood.
Within 30 minutes, an accident occurred.
Penny broke her back and pelvis and had serious facial injuries. Russell was killed. Penny's blood alcohol content was .17 well over the mark that would classify her as "under the influence."
She was indicted for DUI manslaughter in March 2002 and pleaded guilty in February.
On Friday afternoon, a little more than two years after Russell's death, about 30 people gathered in Circuit Judge Larry Roberts' courtroom. They were sad and angry and frightened.
They were Penny and Russell's friends and relatives and they had come to see Penny sentenced.
In the courtroom
The hearing should have happened on March 25, but at the last minute, defense and prosecution attorneys could not agree on what the plea agreement said.
It came down to a difference over whether the district attorney would recommend no more than two years in jail or whether they would recommend no more than two years if, in fact, the judge decided that jail time was appropriate in the first place.
The agreement was not referred to directly at Friday's hearing, but references to "two years" made clear that was still the upward limit.
Defense lawyers suggested through their witnesses that Penny was living her sentence every day, and that her 3-year-old daughter should not be deprived of her mother.
Judge Roberts seems to have taken that into consideration, but said in the end that it was his responsibility to send a message to the community.
The judge sentenced Penny Therrell to five years in prison, the minimum required by law, with four years suspended and one year to serve. She will be required to pay $2,368 toward Russell McCann's funeral expenses.
In addition, she must make a $5,000 contribution to a scholarship at East Central Community College established in Russell McCann's name.
Irony on tragedy
Reams can be written about painful events like sentencing hearings in DUI manslaughter cases, but a couple of ironies stand out from Friday's hearing.
Earlier accident: Less than a week before Russell died, he had an accident while he was driving by himself. He totaled his pick-up, and was still banged up on the night he and Penny went out.
Engagement: Penny said Russell had asked her to marry him earlier in the evening, as the couple socialized with friends at Hojo's, and that she had accepted. Russell's family disputes this, insisting that he was still in love with his ex-wife. Penny said when the accident happened, Russell was bent down looking for a CD on the floorboard of the car because he wanted to hear "their song."
A death in the family: On March 25, one of the people waiting for Penny's first scheduled hearing was Russell's father. He has since died of a heart attack, so he did not see Friday's sentencing hearing.
