Blissfield man sentenced to prison for causing fatal crash in 2021

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

0 5 minutes read

ADRIAN — A Blissfield man was sentenced Thursday to more than four years in prison for causing an accident that cost the life of his friend and neighbor.

Before being sentenced, William Michael Badger Jr., 51, told Lenawee County Circuit Judge Anna Marie Anzalone that he was unhappy with the way his attorney, Patrick O'Keefe of Lansing, represented him at the trial in February, which ended with a jury. finding him guilty of operating while intoxicated causing death and reckless driving causing death.

David Campbell, 78, of Blissfield, died in the accident on May 30, 2021, in a ditch along Lipp Road, south of Ottawa Lake Road. Badger was driving Campbell's wife's Lexus convertible, and witnesses reported that the car was traveling at a high rate of speed when, while crossing Ottawa Lake Road on the gravel portion of the Lipp Highway, it spun out of control. , overturned and found itself stuck backwards and upside down. in the deep drainage ditch on the west side of Lipp.

Anzalone sentenced Badger to 4 years and 6 months to 15 years in prison on both counts. The maximum sentence for both charges is 15 years. She gave him 170 days in prison since his conviction. She also ordered him to pay $326 in court costs.

The question of whether the ProMedica Toledo Hospital blood alcohol test was reliable enough to be used as evidence in a criminal case was a central part of O'Keefe and Badger's defense strategy. Badger was taken there for treatment after the accident. The test showed Badger's blood alcohol level was 0.18, more than double Michigan's legal limit of 0.08.

After an evidentiary hearing, Anzalone authorized its use by the prosecution, who called several witnesses who treated Badger in the hospital's emergency department and who were working in the lab that afternoon. They described to the jury how the blood sample was taken and sent to the laboratory through a pneumatic tube system. Lab workers explained how blood samples are processed and how the machines used to perform the tests operate and are maintained.

In a Lenawee County sheriff's deputy's body-worn camera video that was shown to the jury, the deputy spoke to Badger at the hospital about the accident and asked him to allow a blood test for investigation. Badger refused. The deputy asked his supervisor what he should do because he did not know if a search warrant for blood issued by a Michigan judge could be executed against a defendant who was in Ohio, and he was told him they could subpoena the hospital records later.

O'Keefe argued during the trial that the prosecution should have obtained a court order to preserve the blood sample taken by the hospital so it could be tested by a crime lab.

David Campbell's wife, Karen, testified about how Badger stopped that day to visit her as she and her husband prepared to host relatives for a weekend Memorial gathering Day. She described them drinking expensive whiskey and then taking her car, which Badger had admired, to a store in Blissfield to buy more alcohol.

Badger did not testify and O'Keefe did not call any witnesses. Badger told the court Thursday that there were witnesses he thought O'Keefe should have called to support their case.

“I had no idea what direction we were going with this,” he said.

He said when the prosecution offered a plea deal, O'Keefe told him they had arguments to contest the charges.

This argument of ineffective counsel was not raised three months ago, when sentencing was originally scheduled, said Lenawee County Assistant Prosecutor Douglas Hartung. Sentencing was then adjourned due to disagreements over how minimum sentencing guidelines were assessed.

“Mr. O'Keefe has done an outstanding job,” Hartung told Anzalone, saying there was no basis for the attorney's ineffective argument. He said Badger had the opportunity at each preliminary hearing to accept the plea offer and that Badger and O'Keefe met each day of the trial.

O'Keefe told Anzalone this was the first time he had heard that Badger was unhappy with his advice.

“I’m confident I represented him to the best of my ability,” he said. “…He expressed buyer’s remorse about the trial and the verdict, and it appears that’s what we’re dealing with here.”

Anzalone told Badger he went to trial knowing what the plea offer was and what the outcome of the trial might be. She also said an ineffective argument by counsel could be raised on appeal.

After the trial, David Campbell's son Kelly said the plea offer called for Badger to serve a year in prison.

Regarding sentencing guidelines, O'Keefe and Hartung questioned whether, in a case like this, where a jury found someone guilty of two counts related to the same incident, either charge could be considered a prior offense. They also discussed how the alcohol test result should be considered, whether at the higher amount recorded by the hospital or simply recognizing that Badger had consumed alcohol before driving. Anzalone said she appreciated the constitutional argument O'Keefe made regarding both charges, but she said she had to apply the law as it was written. She also said there is case law supporting the use of non-scientific evidence in fatal drunk driving cases.

O'Keefe argued that Badger should receive a minimum prison term below the sentencing guidelines, which recommended a minimum sentence of between 36 and 71 months. He said Badger took responsibility for what happened, had no criminal record, had not consumed alcohol since the accident and had served his country . He said the questions he raised about how the guidelines were scored should also be considered.

Hartung argued for a sentence of 4 years and 6 months to 15 years. He said that although Badger initially accepted responsibility while in the hospital, over time he backed away from that statement. He lied to Karen Campbell about how the accident happened, he said, and when she asked him about his blood alcohol level, his response was: “Make them earn money. »

“We deserved this conviction,” he said.

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He thanked witnesses who testified, including Toledo hospital staff, sheriff's deputies who investigated the crash and emergency medical personnel who treated Badger.

Hartung also thanked the Campbell family for “hanging in there” as the case progressed. He said he had known David Campbell well during the case.

“He was a hell of a man,” he said, describing him as the “cool old guy on the block” who greeted people while walking his dog and always had an extra beer in the fridge for friends who stopped by. over there.

“He kind of reminds me of my dad,” Hartung said.

Based on actuarial tables, Campbell could have expected to live another 9 years, Hartung said. Although a minimum sentence of 9 years would have exceeded the guidelines, he said 54 months, about half of Campbell's remaining life expectancy, was a fair punishment and would serve as a deterrent to others.

Badger apologized to the Campbell family, saying he had nightmares about the accident.

“If I could take his place, I would,” he said.

— Contact journalist David Panian at [email protected] or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.

Lina Portman

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