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Man Gets 19 Years for Fatal Accident: Jury Convicts on Second-Degree Murder Charge

Posted on: Thursday, 23 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Keren Rivas, Times-News, Burlington, N.C.

Feb. 23--GRAHAM -- A Pinnacle man was sentenced Wednesday to 19 to 25 years in prison for his involvement in a car accident a year and a half ago that killed one man and sent him and two others to the hospital.

After almost an hour and a half of deliberation, a jury found Richard Lionel Cook, 40, guilty of seconddegree murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.

At around 12:05 a.m. on Oct. 29, 2004, Cook was driving west on Interstate 40/85 when he swerved off the road and hit a Chevrolet sedan that was parked in the emergency lane near the Alamance Road exit.

Brothers Adan and Sergio Guerrero-Rosales and Anibal Amaya-Guevara, all of Winston-Salem, were sitting inside the parked car. They had been stopped minutes earlier for a traffic violation and were waiting for a family member to come pick them up.

Amaya-Guevara, 29, who was sitting in the back seat, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Guerrero-Rosaleses brothers suffered several injuries, including head lacerations and a broken back bone.

Cook, whose white Pontiac careened several feet and overturned in the westbound lanes, suffered a split spleen and several broken ribs. The three were taken by helicopter to UNC-Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

Gene Mullis, Cook's boss, testified earlier this week that on the night of the accident, he and Cook had been playing poker in a back room at Triad Coatings Inc., a small paint factory Mullis owns in Graham. At around 11:30 p.m., Mullis said he offered Cook a ride but he refused.

Mullis said he was concerned about Cook driving that night because he had been drinking and did not know the area very well. Cook had just moved to Alamance County.

He was staying at the Days Inn in Burlington at the time.

According to witnesses' testimony, Cook's car was traveling five to 15 miles above the speed limit moments before the accident occurred. Drivers traveling on the interstate that night said Cook was driving recklessly, cutting people off, and driving in the emergency lane at times.

A blood test done at the hospital at 1:38 a.m. showed he had an alcohol concentration level of .05.

The test also showed traces of amphetamines and marijuana in his blood.

In a second blood test the State Bureau of Investigation conducted an hour and a half later, Cook registered a .03.

Using this information, an expert witness for the state extrapolated the numbers and determined Cook's alcohol concentration at the time of the accident was .07. State laws consider a person to be drunk when he or she registers .08 or more.

"(Cook) was not in the proper state of mind to be driving a motor vehicle," assistant district attorney Sean Boone said during closing arguments.

He added that Cook was negligent because he was given an opportunity to get a ride and he didn't take it.

Boone also said while Cook might not have meant to kill someone that night, he knew he was endangering others when he decided to drive his car. He had been stopped twice in the past and charged with speeding and driving while impaired.

"The car didn't crank itself. The gas pedal did not push itself. He did it intentionally," he added.

Cook's attorneys, on the other hand, said he was not drunk, but disoriented be cause he was new to the area.

"This wasn't murder," lead defense attor ney Robert Sharpe said. "There is no malice in this case." He added, "Mr. Cook is guilty, but he is not guilty of seconddegree murder. He is not guilty of assault with a deadly weapon." The jury and the judge disagreed.

"The court needs to send the message that you cannot continue drinking and driving because people can get killed," Superior Court Judge J.B. Allen said.

Cook, a former substitute teacher, told the court he plans to appeal the decision. "It was an accident," he said. He added this experience has devastated him.

Sharpe said Cook has no recollection of the accident, which makes it difficult for him to fully accept what has happened.

"It's a misfortune," Sharpe added. "He wishes the best for the (victims') families." Keren Rivas can be reached at keren_rivas@link.freedom.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, Times-News, Burlington, N.C.

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Source: Times-News

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