DUI death draws 18-month term

Driver's friend killed in Waldorf car accident

Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009

Christopher James Wright and Frank Richard Jones had been friends since they were about 8.

They worked at a Waldorf auto shop together, visited car shows together and were trying to become Army helicopter mechanics together, a defense attorney said at a Tuesday court hearing.

"If you were Chris' friend, you were his friend forever," said Wright's father during the hearing.

But last winter, the friendship between Wright and Jones ended tragically on a rain-slicked road. Jones lost control while driving home from a bar, plowing Wright's Toyota Scion into a utility pole and tree on Bryantown Road. Wright, 26, of La Plata, who was in the front passenger seat, was ejected from the car and pronounced dead on the scene.

On Tuesday, a judge sentenced Jones, 31, of Emerald Isle, N.C., to serve 18 months in jail for negligent homicide while driving under the influence.

"Chris trusted you to drive his car. He trusted you with his life, and you failed him. You know that," Wright's father, Ronnie Wright, said through tears.

According to Jones' attorney, before the accident, his client and Christopher Wright visited a Waldorf saloon to shoot pool. During their time at the bar, they drank two pitchers of beer, according to the attorney, Robert Castro.

Although Wright brought his car to the saloon, the pair decided that Jones would drive home on Dec. 11, 2008, because he was more sober, the attorney said. However, at about 1:39 a.m., Jones fell asleep at the wheel, and Wright's Toyota Scion left the roadway, Castro said. Jones' blood-alcohol content at the time of the accident was .11, police found. The legal limit is .08.

"I never meant for any of this to happen. … [Chris] was my best friend. I loved him like a brother," Jones said, crying. "I wish there was some way I could change this, but there's not. I'm sorry."

Ronnie Wright asked Circuit Court Judge Steven G. Chappelle to give Jones the maximum sentence, five years of incarceration. As he spoke to the court, Wright described his pride in his son, a car detailer and Newburg volunteer firefighter, and directed an appeal at Jones.

"You do something with your life. You understand?" Wright said to Jones.

"Yes, sir," Jones quietly responded.

Charles County Deputy State's Attorney Anthony B. Covington then read a letter written by Christopher Wright's mother, Diane Lee.

"Seeing Chris lying in a casket has caused me intense pain and anguish that will haunt me forever," she wrote. "Being happy doesn't feel right anymore."

Covington urged Chappelle not to think of Jones' actions as "a little mistake with tragic consequences," and to send a message that drinking and driving won't be tolerated by the judicial system.

But Castro argued that before the accident on Dec. 11, both Wright and Jones made the poor decision to climb into a car. The defense attorney said while he sympathizes with Wright's family, Jones has owned up to his mistake and will have to live the rest of his life knowing "he basically killed his best friend."

Chappelle sentenced Jones to five years incarceration with all but 18 months suspended. After Jones is released from the Charles County jail, he will be put on five years of probation, the judge ruled.

Before issuing the sentence, Chappelle extended his condolences to Wright's family and said, "There's no greater responsibility that we have than to ensure you get justice."

Turning to Jones, the judge then said, "I don't believe that to achieve justice, I need to crush you."

After the court hearing, Ronnie Wright said he hopes the law becomes harsher on those who drive under the influence of alcohol.

"It feels like a slap on my son's face," Wright said of Jones' sentence.

He added that hopefully, his son's death will prevent people from getting behind the wheel while drunk.

brodgers@somdnews.com