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| Schultz at his sentencing |
"A lawyer was sentenced Thursday to more than five years in prison tied to the hit-and-run drunken driving death in September of a bicyclist in rural Shawnee County. Based on a plea agreement, prosecutors and defense attorneys for Marc Schultz, 40, urged Shawnee County District Court Judge Dave Debenham to sentence him to a total of 43 months after he pleaded no contest to reckless involuntary manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol in a fourth or subsequent case and leaving the scene of an accident in which a death occurs, all in the death of Timothy Roberts, 55, the bicyclist. [ . . . ]
Instead, Debenham sentenced Schultz to consecutive terms of 43 months for the manslaughter conviction, 12 months for the drunken driving conviction and seven months for leaving the scene. That totals 62 months, or five years and two months.
In imposing the sentences, Debenham noted Schultz hadn’t stopped to render first aid to Roberts after hitting him with a station wagon but did stop to pick up parts from his damaged vehicle before leaving.
When a defendant pleads guilty or no contest in a plea agreement, the judge isn't bound to the recommended prison term.
Roberts was killed Sept. 12 when the Schultz station wagon struck him from behind as he pedaled westbound in the 5500 block of S.W. 53rd. Schultz' son, 5, was a passenger in the car.
'I commend you on your honesty in this case,' [Judge] Debenham said. 'I'm not sentencing you because you're a bad person. I'm sentencing you because you've done a bad act.'"
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There but for the Grace of God.
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He stopped to pick up the parts of his car, but not to help the cyclist he had just hit. Hopefully, there aren't many gods who would forgive a scumbag like that.
ReplyDeleteI have known Marc for over 20 years and what he did is a terrible thing and he knows it. He is and always will be a friend. We all make mistakes but don't lump Marc into the bad person category. I know he has helped a lot of people in his life. This was a horrible tragedy but careful before you climb the pedestal of self righteousness because any human being can make an error in judgment.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the family of Mr. Roberts heals and finds peace. They have my sincere condolences.
I hope my friend, Marc, receives help and can put his life back together.
Anon--
ReplyDeleteThank you for your touching comment on your friend. You are correct that your friend triggered a horrible tragedy. If you stick around and read the posts, here, you will find that the points you make about your friend are precisely the points made about troubled lawyers (for the most part) featured, here, including the Bad Lawyer. In fact, alcoholism and recovery from alcoholism (and drug addiction) is one of the main themes of this blawg. Failure to recover and relapse from the recovery is the reason this blawg came in to existence. Check the archives.
I might add that you can find posts at Bad Lawyer that empathize with all sorts of troubled souls including in one instance a lawyer convicted of child porn who hung himself in his jail cell but not before he penned a heart-wrenching note to his friends and family.
I agree with you Anon, about your friend. Here, is what I wish for him a recovery and a restitution to his former position in the world. God bless him, his family, the family of Mr. Roberts, and you for sticking up for him.
Bad Lawyer
I have also known Marc for a long time. He actually did call 911 after he hit Mr. Roberts, but Marc was not allowed to say anything. He did not get Mr. Roberts to the hospital because he did not want to scare his son. This was a horrible tragedy, and yes only God can help him. Drunk driving is horrible but at least Marc was trying to stop his addiction.
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