The jury and the judge in the Brazos County District Court trial of Alex Ford have made their decisions about punishment.
The Houston woman, convicted of a drunk driving crash that ended the career of a College Station police officer and injured three others, was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $10,000 dollars.
Prosecutor Brian Baker says a jury has not given probation from an intoxication assault or manslaughter conviction since he started with the District Attorney’s office in 2003.
Comments from Brian Baker.
As for prison over probation, defense attorney Craig Greaves says the jury was influenced by the uniforms they saw in the courtroom.
Comments from Craig Greaves.
Greaves says it boils down to the jury handing out punishment for punishment’s sake.
More from Craig Greaves.
Baker says the jury gave a sentence that shows no tolerance for drinking and driving.
More from Brian Baker.
Ford is free after filing an appeal and posting a $40,000 dollar bond.
The jury spent over five hours to settle the punishment phase, compared to under three hours to convict Ford of intoxication assault.
The 23 year old was found guilty of drunk driving when her Maserati struck a College Station Police car, resulting in critical injuries to officer Tracy Sheets and non-life threatening injuries to three passengers in the sports car.
Sheets has filed a civil lawsuit in Harris County against Ford, where a trial is scheduled to start after Labor Day.
Click HERE for full interviews with the lawyers, visiting with WTAW’s Bill Oliver.