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| VERDICT REACTION: Jodie Smith (front) hugs Margie Towery (facing camera) on Thursday at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse after James M. Irwin was found guilty of criminal recklessness and not guilty of serving alcohol to an intoxicated person. Jeffery Pedone Tout, a driver who died in a drunken driving accident which also killed Chip Smith and Sarah Towery, was served alcohol at The Mirage by Irwin a year ago. (Photo by Tom Leininger, Journal and Courier) |
James M. Irwin, 54, of Lafayette, is guilty of criminal recklessness but not guilty of serving alcohol to an intoxicated person. He could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine when he is sentenced May 25.
The Tippecanoe County Court 2 jury of four women and two men heard three days of testimony and deliberated for just over two hours before convicting Irwin of one Class B misdemeanor and acquitting him of the other.
Fifteen minutes after leaving the Mirage, a south Lafayette tavern, on Sunday afternoon, March 21, 1999, Jeffrey Pedone Trout, 39, caused a head-on crash on County Road 350 South that killed him and two other people -- Sarah Towery, 24, of Auburn, Ill., and her boyfriend, Chip Smith, 20, of Riverton, Ill.
"If there was one of the charges that could have stuck, I'm glad it was criminal recklessness," Jodie Smith, mother of Chip Smith, said afterward. "It just tells me that people need to be held responsible and need to be aware."
Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Meyers agreed: "There's something about criminal recklessness making a truer statement as to the nature of the offense here."
Irwin quickly left the courthouse after the verdicts, surrounded by family members. His attorney, Tom O'Brien, said he wasn't entirely disappointed with the outcome.
"That they found that he didn't knowingly or intentionally serve alcohol to an intoxicated person was important to (Irwin)," O'Brien said.
"We knew there was trouble with the criminal recklessness charge. But we knew that they could not prove that Trout exhibited signs of intoxication."
In his closing argument, O'Brien urged jurors to pay attention to the testimony of four Mirage patrons and one other employee who were in the bar that day and said Trout was rude and obnoxious but didn't appear to be drunk.
He said a Mirage security video contained nothing to show that Trout was visibly drunk. He urged jurors not to blame Irwin for Trout's mistake.
"Tomorrow is promised to no one. Whenever there is tragedy, people look for reasons. They look for blame," O'Brien said. "Finding a poor bartender guilty is not going to bring these people back, is not going to make it right."
But Meyers told jurors the statutes under which Irwin was charged are designed to protect people in a society where alcohol is used recreationally.
"Our lives depend on bartenders being careful," Meyers said. "Because this bartender ignored his responsibility, ignored his legal obligation, (three) people are dead."
Trout had a blood-alcohol content of .27 percent at the time of his death, and a toxicology expert testified he likely had been drinking before he ever arrived at the Mirage at 12:03 p.m. that day. The fatal crash occurred at 2:43 p.m.
"Whatever excuse there may be given in this courtroom ... you can see how silly and stupid and ridiculous that excuse will be compared to the horrible results," Meyers told jurors. "It's not too much to ask someone who's serving alcohol to pay attention to who you're selling it to."
Meyers asked jurors to keep in mind that Irwin, as depicted in the security video, served Trout 10 Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum and Coke drinks in less than 21/2 hours, and that the video shows Irwin tipping the rum bottle at least twice for each drink.
O'Brien had claimed that the pour spout on the rum bottle was malfunctioning and dispensing only one-third to one-half an ounce, instead of an ounce, with each tip.
Either way, Dan Towery, whose daughter Sarah Towery was killed in the crash, said Irwin should have known Trout was too drunk to drive away from the bar. He said he blames both Irwin and Mirage owner Rodger Heer for being irresponsible and contributing to his daughter's death. The Towerys and Smiths have settled a civil lawsuit against Heer.
"They took no responsibility whatsoever," Towery said. "Neither one of them should ever be allowed in a position to have control over alcohol at all."
Seeing Irwin convicted, Towery said, doesn't quite bring closure.
His next goal: Holding the government agencies accountable for allowing Trout, who had multiple drunken driving convictions and a suspended driver's license, to be on the road and in his condition the day of the crash.
"This closes one
chapter," he said. "We open the next."
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