Justice for the families
Publication:Daily American Republic; Date:Aug 26, 2007; Section:FRONT PAGE; Page Number:1A
Bailey gets 26 years in 2 DWI deaths
By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor
It was an emotional scene Friday in a Butler County courtroom as a Poplar Bluff woman was sentenced to 26 years in prison for causing the deaths of two Indiana residents while being nearly three times the legal limit and operating her vehicle at 116 mph when it struck their van.
Courtenay Browning Bailey, 28, of the 2000 block of Arkansas Avenue appeared for sentencing before Associate Circuit Judge John Beaton on two
Class B felonies of first-degree
involuntary manslaughter.
Bailey was accused of causing an accident on Jan. 28, 2006, which left Indiana residents, Andrea Bostic and Allen Luster Jr dead and Richard Studebaker severely injured. Bailey’s blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash was found to be .231 percent.
After hearing statements from several members of the Luster family, Bailey and her attorney, Gregory Wittner of Clayton, Beaton sentenced Bailey to a “term of 13 years on each count and the two sentences are to run consecutively.”
Beaton had earlier discussed the sentencing assessment report (SAR) completed by Probation and Parole with Wittner and Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Barbour in chambers.
Wittner asked Beaton to “take careful consideration of
tragic case facts associated with the case.”
Further he asked Beaton to follow the sentencing recommendations in the SAR and also recommend Bailey be placed in an institutional treatment progra That action, he said, would “best serve the needs” of everyone in the case.
When Bailey pleaded guilty Barbour said, the state agreed to remain silent. “The case speaks for itself,” he said. “…Whatever sentence she receives is strictly up to the court.”
Barbour, however did confirm he did not feel this was an
appropriate case for probation.
“I’m aware there are individuals here today who are victims, directly or collateral victims,” said Beaton. victim impact statements would , “benefit” him in making his decision … The impact on the victims is relevant.”
Brenda Luster read a prepared statement on behalf of herself and her husband, Allen Luster Sr.
“They say we must put into
words how this horrific tragedy
has impacted our lives,” said Luster who was visibly upset. “There is not enough words to explain how our lives are now.”
Luster said she and her husband feel alone and scared, as well as the other emotions “one has when 28 years of your life has been taken away by a person who chooses to drink and drive. Two were
almost a third.”
Luster said it is hard to get through the day because of the images of her “one and only child laying in a casket.”
Luster said her son and the others with him “never set out to cause Courtenay Bailey and her family harm.”
Luster said they were coming to Poplar Bluff because Luster’s mother-in-law was on her death bed. They were “only five minutes away” from the hospital when Bailey’s car rear ended their van at 116 mph, she said. “She didn’t murder two people to me; she murdered their family and friends, also,” she said.
said, her family can’t celebrate holidays. “It’s hard to sit and watch others with their families,” she said. “ … How do you explain you’re just two people
flying around? We want God to
pick us up and take us to our son again.”
People say everything happens for a but “I’ve searched and searched and I
can’t seem to find a reason,”
Luster said. “It never ends. Everything you do and see is a reminder.”
Luster said she had questioned God about why he would take her son. “He had just gotten his life together,” she said. “He had just gotten married (and) had a beautiful baby girl.”
Luster said her son got to spend nine months with his daughter. Before his death, she said, he found out he was having a so but “he never got to see the baby because of someone
.”
When they are older Luster said, their grandchildren will have to be told what happened. “They’ll have to go through life without their dad and we’ll have to try to explain to them why someone chose to drink and drive and took their daddy,” she said.
What also hurts, she said, is knowing Bailey has been able to celebrate holidays with her family and see her son during the last 18 months. “Does she think
of us at holidays?” she asked.
Bailey she said, doesn’t know what it is to long for her son or attend three funerals in one week.
“We’re not OK; we’ll never be OK,” Luster said. “We try to be strong for our two grandchildren, who are all we have left of our son.”
Luster said she and her family were not seeking revenge against Bailey, but wanted justice for her Bostic and Studebaker by sending her to prison for a “long time so she’ll know how it feels to be without her child and her family. … know how we feel every day. …”
With her husband’s hand resting on her back, Luster said, she asked God to guide Beaton in making the “right decision. … The only hope we have left is in your hands. … I pray God tion.” you -
When Allen Luster Sr. was asked if he had anything to add, the choked-up father said, “this was for both of us.”
In watching his nephew grow Bill Luster said, he struggled, but had “finally overcome” those struggles as he became an adult.
“He met a young lady he fell in love with … they were a great couple,” Bill Luster said. “ … His little girl was his life.”
Bill Luster said his nephew earned his GED and worked his way up to manager at McDonalds. “He done it on his own,” he said.
- lems, Bill Luster said he came to him to ask advice and once even for money to buy Christmas presents for his daughter.
“He had very few friends growing up” and kept to himself, Bill Luster said. “ … I was overwhelmed by the friends who turned out for his funeral that I didn’t know he had, over 300. It was awesome and remarkable.
“ … I’m going to miss him. I think about him every day. He was a good young man.”
Bill Luster’s wife, Lois, agreed. “Allen was a good
a good husband, and wanted so much to be a good father she said. “He got a good start,”
but won’t be able to “finish his
goal.”
Lois Luster said her nephew will be “sadly missed” by the whole family but if there is a lesson to be learned, it is to “think before you go out to party or be with friends.
“Be . Every - sion you make can turn tragic if you don’t think about how many drinks you have.”
Diane McKinley said she had “prayed every day and asked God to do the right thing today. You have a hard job to do.”
McKinley said she has watched her nephew’s parents suffer so much because of an unintentional act.
“When his son was born, he was not there,” said McKinley who described looking into her great-nephews’ eyes for the
first time as “like looking at my
nephew. It was hardest to see him there without his dad.”
Bailey also read a prepared statement.
On Jan. , , said, she changed the lives of more people than she ever knew or thought of knowing. “I take full responsibility for my actions,” said Bailey, who would offer to trade places with the victims or take back her actions if she could. “There’s no forgiveness for what I have done.”
Bailey said she would never ask the victims’ families to forgive her because she can’t forgive herself. “There’s not a second of my life that I do not think of the victims or my actions,” she said.
Bailey said she thinks of a wife without her husband and her children without their father as well as a teenage girl without her mother and parents without their children. “ … I will never forget what I’ve caused the victims,” she said.
thinks about what her family , suffered at the “hands of my drinking and driving,” including her father whose own father died in an alcohol-related crash when he was 15, and her 7-yearold son.
Bailey said her actions have caused her son to mature much faster but he is what has kept “my head above water” for the last 18 months.
According to Bailey she feels regret and remorse about what happened and has participated in a documentary for young adults about the consequences of drinking and driving to “get through to someone.”
“I’m so, so sorry said a tearful Bailey. “Those tiny words do not come close to what you deserve. I hope you find peace in
your life.”
Wittner described Bailey’s case on the “most tragic” one he had ever had.
One
statements referenced “this needs to stop,” Wittner said. “I agree with that.”
Sending Bailey to prison for a long period does not “best serve justice” to the community Wittner said. Bailey getting the word out about drinking and driving would “serve the community better,” he said.
“In addition one thing the victims can’t know, Ms. Bailey’s thoughts … Wittner said.
“The first day she came in my office” she expressed remorse.
Wittner said Bailey has been unable to express her remorse to the families because of “lawyers and pending actions. … She couldn’t contact the victims.”
Despite the “horrific accident,” Wittner said, Allen Luster Jr.’s wife feels Bailey’s son still needs his mother.
’s death was not intentional, but caused by a reckless act, Wittner said. “It’s not an excuse to damage one more” life, he said.
Studebaker who was “horribly injured,” does not believe it would be “wise” to send Bailey to prison, Wittner said. “Those are powerful words.”
Given the mitigating factors and all the information, Wittner believes Bailey could be a “powerful young person” against drunk driving in society if given the chance to complete the institutional drug treatment
Beaton said he “carefully considered” the SAR, as well as the statements, but “decided against probation and institutional treatment as sentencing options.”
After Beaton sentenced Bailey Wittner requested she be allowed to say goodbye to her son - ties. “Courtenay I will allow you to turn yourself in at the Butler County jail on Monday no later than 3 p.m.,” Beaton said.
Bailey gets 26 years in 2 DWI deaths
By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor
It was an emotional scene Friday in a Butler County courtroom as a Poplar Bluff woman was sentenced to 26 years in prison for causing the deaths of two Indiana residents while being nearly three times the legal limit and operating her vehicle at 116 mph when it struck their van.
Courtenay Browning Bailey, 28, of the 2000 block of Arkansas Avenue appeared for sentencing before Associate Circuit Judge John Beaton on two
Class B felonies of first-degree
involuntary manslaughter.
Bailey was accused of causing an accident on Jan. 28, 2006, which left Indiana residents, Andrea Bostic and Allen Luster Jr dead and Richard Studebaker severely injured. Bailey’s blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash was found to be .231 percent.
After hearing statements from several members of the Luster family, Bailey and her attorney, Gregory Wittner of Clayton, Beaton sentenced Bailey to a “term of 13 years on each count and the two sentences are to run consecutively.”
Beaton had earlier discussed the sentencing assessment report (SAR) completed by Probation and Parole with Wittner and Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Barbour in chambers.
Wittner asked Beaton to “take careful consideration of
tragic case facts associated with the case.”
Further he asked Beaton to follow the sentencing recommendations in the SAR and also recommend Bailey be placed in an institutional treatment progra That action, he said, would “best serve the needs” of everyone in the case.
When Bailey pleaded guilty Barbour said, the state agreed to remain silent. “The case speaks for itself,” he said. “…Whatever sentence she receives is strictly up to the court.”
Barbour, however did confirm he did not feel this was an
appropriate case for probation.
“I’m aware there are individuals here today who are victims, directly or collateral victims,” said Beaton. victim impact statements would , “benefit” him in making his decision … The impact on the victims is relevant.”
Brenda Luster read a prepared statement on behalf of herself and her husband, Allen Luster Sr.
“They say we must put into
words how this horrific tragedy
has impacted our lives,” said Luster who was visibly upset. “There is not enough words to explain how our lives are now.”
Luster said she and her husband feel alone and scared, as well as the other emotions “one has when 28 years of your life has been taken away by a person who chooses to drink and drive. Two were
almost a third.”
Luster said it is hard to get through the day because of the images of her “one and only child laying in a casket.”
Luster said her son and the others with him “never set out to cause Courtenay Bailey and her family harm.”
Luster said they were coming to Poplar Bluff because Luster’s mother-in-law was on her death bed. They were “only five minutes away” from the hospital when Bailey’s car rear ended their van at 116 mph, she said. “She didn’t murder two people to me; she murdered their family and friends, also,” she said.
said, her family can’t celebrate holidays. “It’s hard to sit and watch others with their families,” she said. “ … How do you explain you’re just two people
flying around? We want God to
pick us up and take us to our son again.”
People say everything happens for a but “I’ve searched and searched and I
can’t seem to find a reason,”
Luster said. “It never ends. Everything you do and see is a reminder.”
Luster said she had questioned God about why he would take her son. “He had just gotten his life together,” she said. “He had just gotten married (and) had a beautiful baby girl.”
Luster said her son got to spend nine months with his daughter. Before his death, she said, he found out he was having a so but “he never got to see the baby because of someone
.”
When they are older Luster said, their grandchildren will have to be told what happened. “They’ll have to go through life without their dad and we’ll have to try to explain to them why someone chose to drink and drive and took their daddy,” she said.
What also hurts, she said, is knowing Bailey has been able to celebrate holidays with her family and see her son during the last 18 months. “Does she think
of us at holidays?” she asked.
Bailey she said, doesn’t know what it is to long for her son or attend three funerals in one week.
“We’re not OK; we’ll never be OK,” Luster said. “We try to be strong for our two grandchildren, who are all we have left of our son.”
Luster said she and her family were not seeking revenge against Bailey, but wanted justice for her Bostic and Studebaker by sending her to prison for a “long time so she’ll know how it feels to be without her child and her family. … know how we feel every day. …”
With her husband’s hand resting on her back, Luster said, she asked God to guide Beaton in making the “right decision. … The only hope we have left is in your hands. … I pray God tion.” you -
When Allen Luster Sr. was asked if he had anything to add, the choked-up father said, “this was for both of us.”
In watching his nephew grow Bill Luster said, he struggled, but had “finally overcome” those struggles as he became an adult.
“He met a young lady he fell in love with … they were a great couple,” Bill Luster said. “ … His little girl was his life.”
Bill Luster said his nephew earned his GED and worked his way up to manager at McDonalds. “He done it on his own,” he said.
- lems, Bill Luster said he came to him to ask advice and once even for money to buy Christmas presents for his daughter.
“He had very few friends growing up” and kept to himself, Bill Luster said. “ … I was overwhelmed by the friends who turned out for his funeral that I didn’t know he had, over 300. It was awesome and remarkable.
“ … I’m going to miss him. I think about him every day. He was a good young man.”
Bill Luster’s wife, Lois, agreed. “Allen was a good
a good husband, and wanted so much to be a good father she said. “He got a good start,”
but won’t be able to “finish his
goal.”
Lois Luster said her nephew will be “sadly missed” by the whole family but if there is a lesson to be learned, it is to “think before you go out to party or be with friends.
“Be . Every - sion you make can turn tragic if you don’t think about how many drinks you have.”
Diane McKinley said she had “prayed every day and asked God to do the right thing today. You have a hard job to do.”
McKinley said she has watched her nephew’s parents suffer so much because of an unintentional act.
“When his son was born, he was not there,” said McKinley who described looking into her great-nephews’ eyes for the
first time as “like looking at my
nephew. It was hardest to see him there without his dad.”
Bailey also read a prepared statement.
On Jan. , , said, she changed the lives of more people than she ever knew or thought of knowing. “I take full responsibility for my actions,” said Bailey, who would offer to trade places with the victims or take back her actions if she could. “There’s no forgiveness for what I have done.”
Bailey said she would never ask the victims’ families to forgive her because she can’t forgive herself. “There’s not a second of my life that I do not think of the victims or my actions,” she said.
Bailey said she thinks of a wife without her husband and her children without their father as well as a teenage girl without her mother and parents without their children. “ … I will never forget what I’ve caused the victims,” she said.
thinks about what her family , suffered at the “hands of my drinking and driving,” including her father whose own father died in an alcohol-related crash when he was 15, and her 7-yearold son.
Bailey said her actions have caused her son to mature much faster but he is what has kept “my head above water” for the last 18 months.
According to Bailey she feels regret and remorse about what happened and has participated in a documentary for young adults about the consequences of drinking and driving to “get through to someone.”
“I’m so, so sorry said a tearful Bailey. “Those tiny words do not come close to what you deserve. I hope you find peace in
your life.”
Wittner described Bailey’s case on the “most tragic” one he had ever had.
One
statements referenced “this needs to stop,” Wittner said. “I agree with that.”
Sending Bailey to prison for a long period does not “best serve justice” to the community Wittner said. Bailey getting the word out about drinking and driving would “serve the community better,” he said.
“In addition one thing the victims can’t know, Ms. Bailey’s thoughts … Wittner said.
“The first day she came in my office” she expressed remorse.
Wittner said Bailey has been unable to express her remorse to the families because of “lawyers and pending actions. … She couldn’t contact the victims.”
Despite the “horrific accident,” Wittner said, Allen Luster Jr.’s wife feels Bailey’s son still needs his mother.
’s death was not intentional, but caused by a reckless act, Wittner said. “It’s not an excuse to damage one more” life, he said.
Studebaker who was “horribly injured,” does not believe it would be “wise” to send Bailey to prison, Wittner said. “Those are powerful words.”
Given the mitigating factors and all the information, Wittner believes Bailey could be a “powerful young person” against drunk driving in society if given the chance to complete the institutional drug treatment
Beaton said he “carefully considered” the SAR, as well as the statements, but “decided against probation and institutional treatment as sentencing options.”
After Beaton sentenced Bailey Wittner requested she be allowed to say goodbye to her son - ties. “Courtenay I will allow you to turn yourself in at the Butler County jail on Monday no later than 3 p.m.,” Beaton said.
posted by Help Find Mary Grobe at 5:15 PM
1 Comments:
please let this be a lesson to anyone who reads this story and know that this can happen to anyone. this has caused great pain from both sides and it is something that will never go away. please think before you drink and drive. JB
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