Driver sentenced to 34 months in prison

SAN JUAN COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT

Driver sentenced to 34 months in prison

posted 03/18/04
San Juan County Superior Court Judge Alan Hancock sentenced Giovanna Drew to 34 months in prison for felony hit and run and 30 months for vehicular homicide. The sentences will be served concurrently (at the same time). The 21-year-old San Juan Island woman drove the car which struck Ryan Lobue, 18, as he rode a motorized bicycle up Bailer Hill Road Sept. 12, 2003. He died hours later in Harborview Medical Center.

During the day-long sentencing hearing, a remorseful Drew apologized to Toni Lobue, Ryan's mother. "I made a very, very poor judgment that day," she said. "Toni, I can’t bring Ryan back. If there is something I can do to bring you and your family peace, please let me do so. I am truly so sorry that this happened."

Her poor judgment that day began at 2 p.m., according to the chronology reported by Detective Julie Jamison. Drew's mother served Drew three hard liquor drinks at China Pearl.

Over the course of the next few hours, Drew drove to Jacksons Beach with friends a couple of times. She purchased Jagermeister which she drank with two underage friends. She purchased vodka for another underage friend and two cases of beer. At Jacksons Beach, Drew and her friends drank beer and then decided to head for the west side of San Juan Island. They drank beer as they sped along Bailer Hill Road.

Deputy Prosecutor Charlie Silverman said, "It was basically a chariot of death. When you consider all the things she did. She did everything she could to kill Ryan. Ryan had no chance. Every decision she made was the wrong decision."

"It was bad enough she hit him," Silverman said. "She left him there to die." After the impact, with the shattered windshield hanging down in the car, one of Drew's passengers, Jesse Barnett told her to drive three-quarters of a mile to Moonlight Drive. She hid her car in the woods among junk vehicles.

Defense attorney Craig Platt said Drew and her passengers did not know she had hit anyone. "The relevant factor here was sun glare on the windshield," he said. "Everyone in the car thought a box fell off an approaching vehicle. No one knew a person was injured."

Other testimony conflicted with that statement. According to Detective Jamison, Julia Ross, who was in the front passenger seat, told the others she saw a face hit the windshield.

Ross called her boyfriend, who picked the women up. They left the car hidden on Moonlight Drive. After going home and talking with her family, Drew went to the sheriff's office. She reported her car had been stolen from Jacksons Beach.

The two men in the car, Shane Bison and Barnett, ended up going back to the crash scene after talking to another friend's father. They told deputies Drew had been driving.

Drew was arrested at the sheriff's office and a blood alcohol test was conducted. The result was .19, twice the legal limit.

The 80 people in the courtroom heard testimony from Steve McMurtrie who was driving in the opposite direction, heard the crash and saw a cloud of dust in his rearview mirror. He turned around, drove up the hill, but didn't see Ryan until he got out of his car. He found Ryan in the ditch. "I touched him and told him it would be all right," he said. Maggie Shaw who also heard the crash was running toward the ditch. McMurtrie told her to call 911. She asked her dad to call and she stayed with Ryan until the EMTs left.

Toni Lobue asked Hancock to impose the maximum penalty. "Ryan is dead because someone else did not act responsibly," she said. "She left him on the side of the road like a piece of trash. Her actions were inexcusable. It is beyond belief, they would leave the scene. I am forever grateful for the good samaritans who stopped and cared for Ryan."

She handed the judge a photo of Ryan and her taken by her son Dan two weeks before Ryan's death. She told the judge how excited Ryan was about his plan to move to Santa Cruz. He was planning to work as a landscaper with his uncle, while he pursued his dream of a film career. On the morning of his death, he mailed twenty letters to various film companies asking to be an intern. Two weeks after his death, the phone rang and a man from one of the companies called to offer an internship to Ryan.

"His life was just beginning," Toni said. "I gave him a notebook and pen as a gift for him to write his screenplays. I found his notebook. All I saw were blank pages. That is all that is left of his future."

Drew's uncle Lyle Tarte spoke about his niece's remorse. "I'd like the court to know I believe she is remorseful," he said, "I ask for comfort, care, compassion and understanding, when it comes to sentencing. The sentence should be fair, reasonable, right and just."

Drew pleaded guilty to both counts on Jan. 20, 2004 in order to spare Toni the pain of a trial, Platt said. He argued that she should receive a first-time offender waiver on the felony hit and run charge. If the waiver had been granted, the sentence would have been 90 days.

Judge Hancock rejected the request. "She did consume enormous amount of alcohol. She did not take responsibility initially for what happened. She tried to absolve herself of responsibility," he said.

Deterrence and the message the sentence would send to the community was an important consideration, the judge said. "Any well informed person is aware of the need to refrain from drinking and driving, particuarly drinking in excess," He said. "People need to know there will be substantial punishment."

The standard range for hit and run is 31 to 41 months. The standard range for vehicular homicide is 26 to 34 months. Drew was also sentenced to 36 months of community custody, she was ordered to speak to groups about the dangers of drinking and driving. Drew was allowed to wait until Monday, March 22, 2004 to turn herself in.

At the hospital

During the sentencing hearing, Jill Peacock, a close friend of Toni Lobue recounted the night Ryan died.

posted 03/19/04
The two women and Janet Wilson went to China Pearl for dinner. They passed Ryan on Bailer Hill Road on their way into town. Toni told him, "I’ll see you at home later. Be careful." Those were the last words she spoke to her son.

Just as the three women finished placing their order, Jill saw her two daughters running into the restaurant. They said Ryan had been in an accident and Toni needed to go to the medical center.

They headed to the medical center only to find it empty. Ryan had been taken directly to the airport. At the helipad, Toni was led into the ambulance to see her son. When she came out, paramedic Weyshawn Koons looked Toni straight in the eye and said, "Ryan is critical. It could go either way. I want you to be prepared."

Jill and Toni chartered a plane and flew to Harborview Medical Center. They waited in the emergency room while Ryan was in surgery. A surgeon came out and told them Ryan had gone into cardiac arrest upon arrival. He was bleeding heavily, he had severe chest wounds and part of his leg had been amputated. Ryan was headed to neurology for testing.

"We had hope," Jill said. "We felt he survived up to that point. We thought when they told us they were able to stop the bleeding in his chest area, he was able to have a chance of surviving." The women moved to the waiting room on the neurology floor.

The neurologist came out. She said, "Ryan as you knew him no longer exists. His injuries are not recoverable injuries."

Jill asked if there was any chance at all, maybe a miracle. The neurologist said she was sorry but no. The only reason Ryan was on life support was to allow the family to say goodbye.

Toni and Jill went into Ryan's room. "He was lying on a hospital bed," Jill said. "You could hear the ventilator. His face was swollen, he had abrasions, his chest was wrapped in bandages, his foot was no longer there, and he had a splint on his arm." Toni went to his bedside, talked to him and kissed him.

After a nurse explained what would happen when Ryan was taken off life support. Toni asked to talk to another neurologist, she wanted to see the report in writing.

Jill stepped out as the second neurologist went in to talk to Toni. "I heard Toni tell him she had lost her husband eight months prior," Jill said. "The doctor reviewed the report with her. He left the room with tears in his eyes."

Toni asked for scissors and cut off a few locks of Ryan's hair. She spent more time with him until the respiratory therapist came in. He said he would be taking the tube out and didn't know how long it would take before Ryan's heart stopped beating.

Jill left the room. Toni stayed. When Jill returned Ryan was gone.

It was 2:30 a.m. "We didn't know what to do," Jill said. "We couldn't get home." A nurse showed them a small room where they could wait until morning. "She gave us blankets and we laid down on the floor and waited."

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Driver sentenced to 34 months in prison

At the hospital