Prison term affirmed for Forestville woman in fatal DUI crash

<p>A Sonoma County judge on Wednesday upheld the 13-year prison sentence he imposed on a Forestville woman whose drunken driving led to the death of a Rohnert Park mother of five.</p><p>Judge Arthur Wick rejected arguments from a lawyer for Judy Shafer, 56, that the sentence was longer than those imposed in similar cases throughout the state.</p><p>“I'm very comfortable with the fact that this case does not appear to be disparate in any fashion,” Wick said before repeating the maximum punishment he had meted out on May 14.</p><p>The decision was in response to a motion from Shafer to reconsider the sentence in the crash that killed Kathy O'Daniel, 54. Her lawyer, Jamie Thistlethwaite, compiled statistics showing the average prison time for similar fatal drunken driving cases was about three years.</p><p>In court Wednesday, Thistlethwaite said Shafer's punishment was far stiffer than recent sentences delivered in the county. </p><p>She cited the case of Dylan Morse, a 19-year-old who had his sentence reduced last year by Judge Ken Gnoss from 12 years to a little more than 3 years in prison. After buying alcohol with a fake ID, Morse ran a red light, killing one man and leaving another in a coma, Thistlethwaite said.</p><p>She also mentioned a pending case involving a San Francisco woman who pleaded guilty to DUI and manslaughter charges in connection with the deaths of two Cloverdale women in a crash that occurred while she was wine-tasting. In that plea deal, Judge Rene Chouteau has agreed to a sentence of no more than seven years in prison for Lindsay Murray-Mazany, 27.</p><p>In light of those and other cases, Thistlethwaite suggested a fair sentence for Shafer would be from six to eight years. </p><p>“She is not trying to get out of anything,” Thistlethwaite said. “What she's asking for is a sentence that reflects others in Sonoma County.”</p><p>Prosecutor Bob Waner opposed any reduction, calling the defense's statistics unreliable and anecdotal. He noted Shafer's .19 percent blood-alcohol level, the presence of other drugs in her system and her excessive speed in the crash.</p><p>“This isn't an issue that is unique to the O'Daniel family,” Waner said. “It's an issue that is plaguing our community.”</p><p>Wick said he considered Shafer's “egregious conduct” leading up to the Sept. 14, 2009 crash on Llano Road that also injured O'Daniel's teenage daughter, Kelcee.</p><p>“I was thrilled he did not feel compelled to cave to any outside influence,” said O'Daniel's husband, Chuck. “He did his job.”</p>