THE GAINESVILLE SUN / DOUG FINGER
Austin Wright signs, "I love you," to his family and friends after his sentencing at the Alachua County courthouse Wednesday.
Austin Wright signs, "I love you," to his family and friends after his sentencing at the Alachua County courthouse Wednesday.
Austin Wright, 22, was drunk when his truck hit a Gainesville policeman
BY ALICE WALLACE THE GAINESVILLE SUN
GAINESVILLE -- His eyes tearing up and his face red, Austin J. Wright, 22, turned and held up his hand in the "I love you" sign for his friends and family Wednesday evening just before he was taken away to begin serving a 10-year sentence for killing a Gainesville police lieutenant while driving drunk this year.
Wright, who grew up in Venice, had pleaded guilty in October to aggravated manslaughter in the death of Lt. Corey Dahlem, who was struck by Wright's pickup in the early morning hours of April 3 while police were clearing the road after the celebration of the Gator basketball team's national championship win.
On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Peter K. Sieg sentenced Wright to 10 years in prison after hearing more than five hours of statements from friends and family of both Wright and Dahlem.
Wright, 22, a 2004 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School in Sarasota, was a student at the University of North Florida at the time of the Dahlem's death. The three 19-year-old passengers in his pickup were Shelly Floyd of Atlantic Beach, Jamie Mullis of Jacksonville and Norman Taylor, also of Venice, who graduated from Venice High School in 2005.
None of the passengers were injured or faced any charges.
"Probably 95 percent of you are disappointed" with the sentence, Sieg told the full courtroom Wednesday. Sieg's sentence was just over the 9 1/4-year minimum sentence required by the case, but was far less than the maximum of 30 years that could have been imposed.
"I totally feel Corey Dahlem is the incredible person you've told me about," Sieg said to those on the Dahlem family's side of the room.
"And I totally believe Austin Wright is the fine, fine person you've told me about," he said to the opposite side. "But there are other things I must consider."
Wright must serve 85 percent of his sentence, so he could be released in 8 years, according to State Attorney Bill Cervone.
More than 150 of Wright's family and friends came to support him during the sentencing Wednesday night, and they filled not only one side of the courtroom where the sentencing went on, but also filled an adjacent courtroom where the proceedings could be watched on the closed circuit television.
The other side of the courtroom was filled with people supporting the Dahlem family.
Wright himself spoke to the judge just before the judge left the courtroom to decide the sentence, and he said he accepts reponsibility for what happened the night Dahlem, 45, was fatally injured.
"It was stupid," he said, pausing every few words to sniffle through his tears. "It was selfish. I never should have done it. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about the Dahlems."
Wright said he did not notice that the road was closed to traffic the night he struck the officer.
"I did not see Lt. Dahlem," he said. "I didn't even know what happened until the other officers told me."
The night of the fatal crash, police were clearing the crowds from W. University Avenue after thousands of Gator fans had swarmed the streets to celebrate the Gator basketball team's second straight national chamionship.
Wright's pickup hit Dahlem as the officer was crossing University Avenue, and then Wright continued down the road until he was pulled over a few blocks away. Two officers on motorcycles also had to jump out of the way of Wright's vehicle as he drove down the closed street.
A blood test showed Wright had a blood-alcohol level of 0.271, more than three times the limit at which Florida drivers are considered intoxicated, the night he struck Dahlem, according to investigators.
Because Dahlem was a law enforcement officer, Wright's case could have been sentenced under the Scott Baird Act, which is a bill that increases the penalty in an aggravated manslaughter case that involves a law enforcement officer. Baird was a Gainesville Police officer who was killed in 2001 while trying to move a batting cage that someone had dragged into the roadway. An oncoming vehicle did not see the cage, and struck it, killing Baird instantly.
Dahlem's family asked for two years less than the 30-year maximum penalty allowed under the Scott Baird Act, and Dahlem's widow, Sally, explained it was because a sentence of 28 years would mean Wright could be released in 22 years, making him the same age as Dahlem when he was killed.
"I no longer have a husband," Sally Dahlem told Judge Sieg. "My children no longer have a father. Our lives will never be the same and our futures have been shattered just because Austin Wright thought he was above the law."
More than 10 other friends and family memebrs, including several of Dahlem's fellow officers from the Gainesville Police Department and Dahlem's grown children, Katie and Brandon, also got up to express how their lives have changed.
When it came time for Wright's family and friends to speak to the judge, they told of a "good kid" who had simply made a bad choice.
"There are times when I feel so much sorrow for everyone involved in this tragedy that I can hardly breathe," said Wright's mother, Mary Wright, who drove from their Venice home to Gainesville with the rest of Wright's family -- including his father, Clark, and older brother.
Wright's parents met in the 1970s at UF. And their oldest son, Clark Jr., graduated from UF's College of Building Construction in December 2006. Austin Wright had previously been a Gainesville resident and attended Santa Fe Community College for two years before transferring to the Jacksonville school.
While growing up in Venice, Wright played Little League baseball for the Venice Americans and also for the Dentists, a team sponsored by his father, a local dentist. He made the honor roll as a seventh grader at Epiphany Cathedral School, and served for more than two years on the Venice City Council Youth Advisory Board.
Near the end of the hearing, Wright's father pleaded with the judge to be lenient.
"He knows, and we know, that he must be punished," Clark Wright said. "We ask that your punishment be tempered with compassion. I beg you, judge, have mercy on my son."
Judge Sieg took only a few minutes to return with his sentence once he heard all of the statements from both sides. He said there were too many factors to allow a lesser sentence -- including the involvement of a police officer and the excessive amount of alcohol in Wright's system.
Though both sides of the room were visibly shaken after the sentence was read, with Wright's side hoping for a lesser sentence and Dahlem's hoping for a harsher one, both Wright's attorney and the State Attorney's Office said they understood the judge had a hard decision to make.
"These are the hardest cases because they almost always involve good people with no bad intent," defense attorney Larry Turner said.
The Gainesville Sun is part of the New York Times Regional Media Group.
BY ALICE WALLACE THE GAINESVILLE SUN
GAINESVILLE -- His eyes tearing up and his face red, Austin J. Wright, 22, turned and held up his hand in the "I love you" sign for his friends and family Wednesday evening just before he was taken away to begin serving a 10-year sentence for killing a Gainesville police lieutenant while driving drunk this year.
Wright, who grew up in Venice, had pleaded guilty in October to aggravated manslaughter in the death of Lt. Corey Dahlem, who was struck by Wright's pickup in the early morning hours of April 3 while police were clearing the road after the celebration of the Gator basketball team's national championship win.
On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Peter K. Sieg sentenced Wright to 10 years in prison after hearing more than five hours of statements from friends and family of both Wright and Dahlem.
Wright, 22, a 2004 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School in Sarasota, was a student at the University of North Florida at the time of the Dahlem's death. The three 19-year-old passengers in his pickup were Shelly Floyd of Atlantic Beach, Jamie Mullis of Jacksonville and Norman Taylor, also of Venice, who graduated from Venice High School in 2005.
None of the passengers were injured or faced any charges.
"Probably 95 percent of you are disappointed" with the sentence, Sieg told the full courtroom Wednesday. Sieg's sentence was just over the 9 1/4-year minimum sentence required by the case, but was far less than the maximum of 30 years that could have been imposed.
"I totally feel Corey Dahlem is the incredible person you've told me about," Sieg said to those on the Dahlem family's side of the room.
"And I totally believe Austin Wright is the fine, fine person you've told me about," he said to the opposite side. "But there are other things I must consider."
Wright must serve 85 percent of his sentence, so he could be released in 8 years, according to State Attorney Bill Cervone.
More than 150 of Wright's family and friends came to support him during the sentencing Wednesday night, and they filled not only one side of the courtroom where the sentencing went on, but also filled an adjacent courtroom where the proceedings could be watched on the closed circuit television.
The other side of the courtroom was filled with people supporting the Dahlem family.
Wright himself spoke to the judge just before the judge left the courtroom to decide the sentence, and he said he accepts reponsibility for what happened the night Dahlem, 45, was fatally injured.
"It was stupid," he said, pausing every few words to sniffle through his tears. "It was selfish. I never should have done it. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about the Dahlems."
Wright said he did not notice that the road was closed to traffic the night he struck the officer.
"I did not see Lt. Dahlem," he said. "I didn't even know what happened until the other officers told me."
The night of the fatal crash, police were clearing the crowds from W. University Avenue after thousands of Gator fans had swarmed the streets to celebrate the Gator basketball team's second straight national chamionship.
Wright's pickup hit Dahlem as the officer was crossing University Avenue, and then Wright continued down the road until he was pulled over a few blocks away. Two officers on motorcycles also had to jump out of the way of Wright's vehicle as he drove down the closed street.
A blood test showed Wright had a blood-alcohol level of 0.271, more than three times the limit at which Florida drivers are considered intoxicated, the night he struck Dahlem, according to investigators.
Because Dahlem was a law enforcement officer, Wright's case could have been sentenced under the Scott Baird Act, which is a bill that increases the penalty in an aggravated manslaughter case that involves a law enforcement officer. Baird was a Gainesville Police officer who was killed in 2001 while trying to move a batting cage that someone had dragged into the roadway. An oncoming vehicle did not see the cage, and struck it, killing Baird instantly.
Dahlem's family asked for two years less than the 30-year maximum penalty allowed under the Scott Baird Act, and Dahlem's widow, Sally, explained it was because a sentence of 28 years would mean Wright could be released in 22 years, making him the same age as Dahlem when he was killed.
"I no longer have a husband," Sally Dahlem told Judge Sieg. "My children no longer have a father. Our lives will never be the same and our futures have been shattered just because Austin Wright thought he was above the law."
More than 10 other friends and family memebrs, including several of Dahlem's fellow officers from the Gainesville Police Department and Dahlem's grown children, Katie and Brandon, also got up to express how their lives have changed.
When it came time for Wright's family and friends to speak to the judge, they told of a "good kid" who had simply made a bad choice.
"There are times when I feel so much sorrow for everyone involved in this tragedy that I can hardly breathe," said Wright's mother, Mary Wright, who drove from their Venice home to Gainesville with the rest of Wright's family -- including his father, Clark, and older brother.
Wright's parents met in the 1970s at UF. And their oldest son, Clark Jr., graduated from UF's College of Building Construction in December 2006. Austin Wright had previously been a Gainesville resident and attended Santa Fe Community College for two years before transferring to the Jacksonville school.
While growing up in Venice, Wright played Little League baseball for the Venice Americans and also for the Dentists, a team sponsored by his father, a local dentist. He made the honor roll as a seventh grader at Epiphany Cathedral School, and served for more than two years on the Venice City Council Youth Advisory Board.
Near the end of the hearing, Wright's father pleaded with the judge to be lenient.
"He knows, and we know, that he must be punished," Clark Wright said. "We ask that your punishment be tempered with compassion. I beg you, judge, have mercy on my son."
Judge Sieg took only a few minutes to return with his sentence once he heard all of the statements from both sides. He said there were too many factors to allow a lesser sentence -- including the involvement of a police officer and the excessive amount of alcohol in Wright's system.
Though both sides of the room were visibly shaken after the sentence was read, with Wright's side hoping for a lesser sentence and Dahlem's hoping for a harsher one, both Wright's attorney and the State Attorney's Office said they understood the judge had a hard decision to make.
"These are the hardest cases because they almost always involve good people with no bad intent," defense attorney Larry Turner said.
The Gainesville Sun is part of the New York Times Regional Media Group.
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