Dettloff sentenced to 4-10 years in fatal crash

Friday, May 24, 2002 | 4:43 a.m.

Mitchell Dettloff faced a potential sentence of 30 years in prison when he went before District Judge Joseph Bonaventure Friday, but he left in shackles knowing he probably will serve just three years -- one for each body strewn on U.S. 95 from an April 2001 accident from which he fled.

Bonaventure sentenced the 37-year-old former Las Vegas restaurant manager to 10 years in prison for leaving the scene of a triple fatal accident, with parole eligibility in four years. But with time served in jail and under house arrest -- 395 days -- Dettloff could be paroled in about three years.

Bonaventure said his decision was difficult -- the Department of Parole and Probation and prosecutors sought a 30-year sentence with parole eligibility in 12 years -- but the judge called Dettloff "a good man who made a horrible, tragic mistake."

Dettloff was convicted in March of leaving the scene of the April 22, 2001, accident that killed Brian Cooper, 30, Benjamin Barton, 8, and his mother, Holly Barton, 33.

Bonaventure said he could only sentence Dettloff based on the one conviction of three counts of leaving the scene but not for involuntary manslaughter or reckless driving, as a jury acquitted him of those charges. And Bonaventure said Dettloff did not commit three offenses but only one, so he will serve the sentences concurrently, not consecutively as prosecutors wanted.

Bonaventure also ordered Dettloff to pay the $76,662 in restitution and assessed $6,000 in fines, $150 for a DNA test and $25 for a court administration fee.

Dettloff's attorney, Richard Wright, who spoke passionately against parole and probation's recommendation for the stiff sentence, declined comment after the sentencing. Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker, who argued just as passionately for a long prison stay, said the sentence "was fair. The judge carefully listened to all arguments."

James Barton, who was critically injured in the crash and lost his wife and son when their pickup was hit by Dettloff's car and sent flipping across the median and into the other travel lanes, where it crashed head-on into Cooper's vehicle, said after the sentencing, "this is the start of closure for me."

Elizabeth Bacclaan-Dettloff, Mitchell's wife, said despite her husband receiving the leniency he sought from the judge, she was not pleased with the sentence, but she accepted it with grace and optimism.

"We are very strong in our faith," Elizabeth said. "This is all part of God's plan."

Her family is facing bankruptcy and potential civil action, Wright said during the sentencing hearing.

During sentencing, Dettloff, shackled and wearing blue jail fatigues and orange tennis shoes, broke down. He wept while facing his victims' families and said he was sorry.

"This terrible accident affected the lives of a lot of people in this courtroom," Dettloff said. "I am sorry for the role I played. I apologize. I hope you will forgive me for the accident ... if there's anything I could do to change this, I would."

James Barton, 33, who runs a family plumbing business and now raises his three children, ages 2 to 6, and a nephew alone, was not so forgiving when he testified.

"I know you know what happened," he screamed at Dettloff, calling Dettloff's memory "selective" and accusing him of lying. "The pain I go through is indescribable. While you were home for the holidays with your family I was alone. My wife and son were not there. ... You don't comprehend that."

Prior to sentencing, Bonaventure ruled against a defense motion to not permit members of Barton's family address the court. Wright argued that because his client was not convicted of involuntary manslaughter or reckless driving he was not found guilty of causing the crash and thus should not be accused of being at fault by emotional family members.

Bonaventure said state law was clear that family members of victims indeed are entitled to speak and allowed Barton and two other family members to testify. No one spoke on behalf of Cooper's family.

Wright said he was "shocked at the recommendation" of 12 years in prison and up to 30 years total.

He argued for "proportionality and comparability" with other similar cases, and said the parole and probation report "flies in the face of the goals of sentencing in Nevada."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said that Dettloff hid out for three days after the accident, trying to avoid being caught and taking responsibility for his actions.

"He was running that night and as he sits here today he is still running ... he is spiritually fleeing," Booker said. "This man needs to go to prison and he needs to go there for a long time."

Prosecutors alleged that, after Dettloff merged onto U.S. 95 from Ann Road, he drifted right, overcorrected and veered left into a Ford F-250 pickup carrying James Barton and his family. Barton's vehicle then went across the dirt median and struck Brian Cooper's vehicle head-on.

Dettloff told jurors that after his vehicle collided with Barton's he left the scene because he but did not see anyone pulled over and assumed that Barton had left. He had no idea about the second collision involving the Bartons and Cooper, Dettloff said.

Booker told the jurors that while Dettloff left the scene, a dozen other people, some of whom weren't involved in the accident, remained.

According to court testimony, Dettloff drove away, picked up his children and drove back through the accident scene 15 to 20 minutes later in his damaged vehicle.

Dettloff did not answer the door that night when law enforcement officials came to his home. He left the next day with Elizabeth and his children. He was arrested three days after the crash and charged with four counts each of leaving the scene of an accident, three counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving.

Jurors could not find that Dettloff acted "willfully and wantonly" to convict him of reckless driving, which carries a one-to-six-year sentence. Nor could they find him "criminally negligent" to convict him of involuntary manslaughter, which is punishable by a one-to-four-year prison term.