Judge denies Bartonville teen's request to stay in jail pending appeal of driving under the influence charge

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A Bartonville teenager will go to prison while he appeals his conviction and sentence in a fatal drunk driving crash that killed a 16-year-old girl.

Clayton Bell, 19, had hoped to remain in the Peoria County Jail where he has been for a year after being sentenced to 14 years in prison in connection with the Feb. 27, 2022, crash on West Pfeiffer Road, just outside Bartonville, that killed Mia Dusek.

But Peoria County Circuit Judge John Vespa said no, rejecting a request from Bell's attorney, Michael Doubet. The attorney had argued to Vespa that Bell should be sent to a maximum-security facility, given the nature of the sentence, and that keeping him in the county jail wouldn't hurt anyone.

Furthermore, Doubet argued, Vespa committed reversible error by failing to consider factors that took into account his age when he sentenced Bell last year. As such, his client should remain in prison because there is a strong chance the conviction will be overturned, the attorney said.

But Vespa said no, saying he considered all “youth-based sentencing factors” when he handed down his 14-year sentence in June 2023.

The judge also rejected several arguments made by Doubet during an hour-long hearing in mid-June, where the attorney sought to have the conviction overturned due to alleged errors by Bell's former attorney, Kevin Sullivan.

Doubet argued that Sullivan was ineffective as Bell's attorney and failed to challenge numerous elements during his sentencing hearing. Bell pleaded guilty earlier in 2023 to aggravated drunken driving, a felony punishable by three to 14 years in prison.

According to Doubet, at the June 13 hearing, Sullivan failed to adequately raise enough “mitigating factors” or challenge evidence that could have given Bell a lesser sentence or even probation.

Under state law, Bell could have received probation, but he had to prove that “extraordinary circumstances” did not warrant prison time. It's different from most crimes because it was up to Bell, not prosecutors, to prove that probation was the appropriate punishment.

Doubet argued at the June 13 hearing that Sullivan failed to question why some people were allowed to give victim impact statements in court when they should not have done so. And he also told Vespa that Sullivan failed to properly investigate the case before the sentencing hearing in June 2023.

But the judge said Sullivan did an excellent job representing Bell at the time. Rather, Sullivan's decisions were “based on sound trial strategy and intended to avoid a charge of 'victim blaming,' which would have resulted had he presented evidence that now says shows that the deceased Mia Dusek should share responsibility for the actions that were committed. caused his death.

Whatever wrong Sullivan might have done, the judge wrote in his two-page order, was not enough to tip the scales.

The crash happened around 12:25 a.m. in the 6700 block of Pfeiffer, a stretch of road with steep grades that can block a driver's line of sight. Officers from the Peoria County Sheriff's Office arrived on scene to find the vehicle overturned. It had been traveling at a high rate of speed — testimony at the hearing put it at close to 85 mph — just before the crash.

Passengers who survived said the car was trying to “get air.”

After Monday's hearing, Doubet filed an appeal for his client. The case will now go to the 4th District Court of Appeal, which sits in Springfield. A decision will likely not be made for several months.