Posted 10/11/2010 9:56 PM (GMT 0)
GREENSBORO - For more than three hours Tuesday in a crowded courtroom, attorneys painted starkly contrasting portraits of Grayson Warren Dawson as she awaited punishment for a hit-and-run that left a popular bicyclist dead.
"She is a woman of fine character, a kind and generous person who wouldn't leave someone on the side of the road," attorney Locke Clifford said in asking for mercy for Dawson, who wept by his side at the defense table.
"Her life is a constant struggle. There was no willfulness in her misconduct; it was in every sense of the word, an accident."
Not so, argued prosecutor Chris Parrish, who asked Judge Lindsay R. Davis Jr. to impose the maximum sentence of up to 20 months for David Sherman's death along a rural road last fall.
"This was not an error; this was not an accident," Parrish told the judge in Guilford County Superior Court. "What you heard were all reasons she shouldn't have been driving a car. There were at least nine prescription drugs in her system. ... She put everyone in Guilford County and Rockingham County in danger that day."
In the end, the judge sentenced Dawson to 14 to 17 months in prison.
The Eden resident had pleaded guilty to felony hit-and-run causing a death, misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and having no operator's license.
The decision came down to what would be fair to the family and friends of a well-loved man versus what would be suitable for a woman whose life had been plagued by problems.
"Some cases cause us to ask just what justice is, and this is one of them," the judge said before sentencing her.
According to testimony, Sherman, 55, was out for a late Saturday afternoon bike ride on a familiar route southbound toward Greensboro on North Church Street near N.C. 150.
It had rained earlier in the day, and he put off a morning ride until the weather had cleared. Along the way, he stopped and spoke with a family about their Halloween decorations.
Dawson, driving north in her Dodge Durango, crossed a double-yellow line and hit Sherman head-on at 45 mph.
The impact caved in the windshield of the SUV and threw Sherman several feet. His bicycle snapped in two. He died at the scene.
Evidence showed Dawson made a U-turn and came back to the crash site before taking off and going to Rockingham County.
Two days later, Dawson went to a convenience store in the damaged SUV, which aroused the suspicion of employees there.
Dawson said she had hit a deer the day before.
The employees noted the SUV's tag number and called Crime Stoppers after hearing about Sherman's death.
Clifford said his client had suffered from ulcerative colitis, a bowel disease, for more than three decades, which required the removal of parts of her colon and large intestine. The disease left her unable to work and on disability.
On Oct. 20, 2009, Clifford said Dawson underwent a medical procedure at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill related to the disease that left her bedridden at home for three days.
The day of the crash, Oct. 24, was Dawson's 48th birthday. Tired of staying at home, Clifford said, she went shopping in Greensboro and to visit her daughter.
Dawson had taken several prescription medications related to the procedure and disease, many of which are known to cause amnesia, dizziness and drowsiness, according to testimony.
Clifford read a multipage letter from his client, in which she admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel and thinking she hit a deer.
She never realized she hit someone until authorities arrived at her home, Dawson said in the letter.
Parrish argued that Dawson knew she was in no condition to get behind the wheel of a car that day, yet she did anyway and put the safety of others at risk.
"(Her medical conditions) were reasons she should not be driving a car, and she knew it," Parrish said.
Dawson knew what she was doing by leaving the scene of the accident, which prevented authorities from testing what was in her system and ultimately limited the charges that could be brought against her, Parrish said.
"Believe you me, we would have (brought stiffer charges) if we could prove it," he said.
The judge also heard from Ann Sherman, David Sherman's widow, who said Dawson's poor choices caused the collision.
"As a direct result of the defendant's lack of respect for life, David's tomorrow will never come," she said.
The Sherman family and Dawson declined to comment after the sentencing.
about 60 of Sherman's friends and family attended the hearing to show their support.
"This is not going to bring David back, and Ms. Dawson will live in and has lived in her own private hell since this happened," said Duncan Chapman, a cycling friend of David Sherman.
"She made the conscious decision to get behind the wheel of an automobile knowing she had taken that quantity of medication that might impair her ability to drive. For that reason, she had no business behind the wheel."
Dawson will begin her sentence Oct. 11.
The judge allowed the delay for an upcoming medical procedure.
Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals @news-record.com
In addition, make sure to read these articles:
Eden woman sentenced in cyclist's death
Prosecutor: Woman charged in death of bicyclist to plead guilty
Prosecutor: Woman charged in death of bicyclist to plead guilty
Motorist charged in death of bicyclist
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