In an emotional day in court Thursday, Feb. 5, an Edgecomb man received his sentence for a misdemeanor OUI charge stemming from a 2013 incident that critically injured his best friend. Drew Wallace, 25, of Edgecomb, was sentenced to 364 days in jail with all but 30 days suspended and one year of probation.
He must also pay a $500 fine and will lose his license for 90 days.
In July 2013, Wallace and Christopher Dighton were drinking and taking turns driving an all-terrain vehicle on Old County Road in Edgecomb. The ATV rolled over, pinning Dighton beneath it. It was later determined that Wallace was driving.
Dighton was transported by helicopter to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he remained in intensive care for 10 days.
Dighton’s injuries included a fractured skull, broken collarbone, broken shoulder, and lacerated liver. He spent months in rehab.
Wallace was also transported to Maine Medical Center, where he was treated for serious back injuries.
Wallace’s friends and family were present to support him and speak on his behalf at his sentence hearing. Dighton’s mother, Kim Thiboutot, requested leniency for Wallace. Thiboutot told the court that Wallace discharged himself from the hospital so he could sit with Dighton’s family in the intensive care unit waiting room.
Dighton was present to speak on Wallace’s behalf on Jan. 30, the original hearing date, but the hearing was rescheduled due to time constraints at the court. Dighton could not attend the rescheduled hearing.
“I’m here speaking for both of us,” Thiboutot said to Superior Court Justice Daniel Billings. “Since the day it happened, Drew has been there right by my side. He sat in the waiting room every day until he knew that Chris was going to be alright. Drew’s been through as much as we have. Please take into consideration everything that we’ve been through.”
Wallace was indicted on a charge of aggravated criminal OUI, a class C felony, in March 2014. Through negotiations between the district attorney’s office and Wallace’s defense attorney, Richard Berne, the charge was reduced to a class D misdemeanor with a cap of four months placed on the amount of time Wallace would serve.
Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright said the strong friendship between Dighton and Wallace, Wallace’s character and acceptance of responsibility for the accident, and the adamant advocacy of Dighton’s family to not prosecute Wallace convinced the district attorney’s office to reduce the charges against Wallace.
Wright, however, asked the court to impose the full four-month sentence to deter others from drinking and driving.
“I know that he’s sorry,” Wright said, “but that doesn’t change the fact that it did happen. We need to send a message that there are consequences for this type of behavior to deter others from doing it.”
Berne asked the court to place Wallace on probation. He argued Wallace was prepared to speak publicly about the dangers of drinking and driving, which would serve as a greater public deterrent than a jail sentence.
“I’ve learned my lesson about drinking and driving,” Wallace said. “It’s a lesson I’ll pass on to anyone who will listen.”
In delivering his sentence, Billings noted the difficulty of the case.
“In our system, we have great discretion in sentencing,” Billings said. “We can go beyond the headline and consider the character of the people involved and how they react to the situation. It puts judges such as myself in a difficult position.”
Billings complimented the district attorney’s office for using its discretion and dropping the felony charge against Wallace. He noted, however, that drinking and driving was a significant issue in the community and felt that some jail time was necessary in the case due to the severity of the injuries involved.
Billings sentenced Wallace to 364 days in jail with all but 30 days suspended.
“It’s not a matter of being vindictive,” Billings said. “It’s about looking at the big picture.”
Wallace was granted a stay of 30 days so he could apply for a jail diversion program through the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, which Billings said Wallace was a strong candidate for.
Jail diversion programs are handled by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and the district attorney’s office and require inmates to serve at least one-third of their sentence.
