Driver who injured friend gets jail time
Toolbox
By Thatcher Moats Times Argus Staff - Published: March 3, 2009
BARRE – A 27-year-old Marshfield man will go to jail for at least five years for driving drunk and severely injuring a close friend.
Earle Rogers Jr. had been drinking in May 2008 when he tried to drive away from a Marshfield residence and crushed 74-year-old Carroll Brown with his truck. Rogers pleaded guilty to the offense last fall and was sentenced on Monday to 5- to-10 years in prison for the incident.
The 2008 offense was the second time Rogers hurt someone while driving drunk. Five years earlier, Rogers went off the road in Sheldon, injuring his passenger.
Rogers was on probation for the 2003 offense last May when he struck Brown, who now walks with a cane. Friends and family members tried to stop Rogers from leaving the Marshfield residence because they knew he had been drinking. Rogers' truck was blocked in by other vehicles and he tried to go around them by driving up an embankment. His truck slid into another truck and pinned Brown in between, breaking the man's ribs and pelvis and sending him to intensive care for weeks.
Rogers has been in jail since last May, serving the underlying 2- to 10-year sentence for the incident in Sheldon. He had served nine months for that offense and the rest had been suspended.
Washington County State's Attorney Tom Kelly asked for a 10- to-15 year sentence on the 2008 offense, which, combined with the 2003 offense, would have meant a total sentence of 12- to-25 years.
Rogers' attorney Alan Rome said that was excessive.
"Ten or 12 years for what happened here is really Draconian compared to what happens in other cases," said Rome.
Judge Brian Grearson agreed and imposed a 5- to 10-year sentence, which is what the Department of Corrections recommended in its pre-sentence investigation. Grearson also recommended that Rogers undergo a cognitive self change program and alcohol treatment.
With the two drunken driving incidents combined, Rogers' total sentence is 7 to 20 years. He will get credit for time he has already served.
Brown and some of his family members were at the sentencing hearing in Vermont District Court in Barre. Brown did not make a statement in court or outside the courtroom, and the family declined to comment after the proceeding. However, Brown's niece spoke from the witness stand.
Iva Brown said her uncle was once an auto mechanic, but in recent years collected scrap metal, which he sold at salvage yards. He has not fully recovered from his injuries, she said.
"He's very much weaker than he was," said Iva Brown.
Rogers' uncle, aunt and father testified on behalf of the 27-year-old. Rogers is a hard worker who has a problem with drinking, but is kind and generous when sober, they said.
Rogers told the court he regrets the incident and hopes to solve his drinking problem.
"I feel really horrible for what I did, and I do wish to get some alcohol help," said Rogers.
Rogers said he and Brown were close, which makes the incident even more regrettable.
"He's like an uncle to me," Rogers said. "I call him 'Uncle.'"
Rogers and Brown may have been too close, according to some of Rogers' family members.
Earl Rogers Sr. told the court that Brown and Rogers worked together and drank together, even though Rogers Jr. was not allowed to drink while on probation.
"Carroll was bringing alcohol up and feeding it to him every day," said Earle Rogers Sr.
Rogers Jr.'s aunt, Diana Rogers, agreed that Brown abetted the young man's drinking problem.
"He's the one who served the alcohol every day," she said, speaking of Brown.
Diana Rogers also said that Brown was driving drunk the only two times she met him.
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