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By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff WriterA circuit judge says that Nathan Groomes has shown remorse about the car accident that resulted in the death of Adam Vanyur last year.
DADE CITY - Four months ago all that stood between Nathan Groomes and a reduced prison sentence was whether he felt remorse.
How was the 23-year-old Land O'Lakes man affected by the charge of DUI manslaughter and the 2004 death of acquaintance Adam Vanyur?
A judge wasn't sure whether Groomes felt bad for Vanyur and his family, or felt bad that he was going to prison. After Groomes pleaded no contest in August, Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper refused to reduce his state-minimum sentence of 10 years, four months.
Groomes asked the court Tuesday for another chance to demonstrate his contrition and to whittle down the decade he has to spend in prison.
"The family will never forgive me," he said, "and I will never forgive myself."
The judge believes him now. His attorney read his client's jailhouse-penned apology letter in court; then a teary-eyed Groomes offered his own pleading.
Tepper ruled despite Assistant State Attorney Phil Van Allen's objection that Groomes was given an appropriate sentence and that his remorse was the product of self-interest.
"I am satisfied you have shown remorse," the judge said. "I am prepared to reduce your sentence."
Vanyur was ejected from Groomes' truck when Groomes lost control on Collier Parkway on June 24, 2004. The 20-year-old died the next day at a Tampa hospital. Groomes' blood-alcohol level was 0.177, more than twice the 0.08 level at which state law presumes impairment. Groomes pleaded Aug. 30 and reported to jail Sept. 27.
At the August hearing the judge questioned Groomes' remorse, which she said kept her from legally reducing his sentence. Assistant Public Defender Steve Herman has spent months before and after convincing the court of his client's deep regret.
Groomes would have spent at least 81/2 of his 10-year sentence behind bars. The judge didn't say how much she would reduce the sentence but did approve the state's request to let the Vanyur family speak at a Jan. 19 hearing.
The family, which had sought two to four years prison time, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
In Groomes' letter, he wrote that he better understood the Vanyurs' loss after jail separated him from his family.
"I miss the simple things, like the touch of a loved one," he wrote to the Vanyurs. "I hate myself for taking that away from you."
"You mean you're finally starting to understand the magnitude of what you've done to the Vanyur family?" the judge asked.
"Yes ma'am," Groomes said.
"State?" Tepper said.
Van Allen said Groomes is remorseful because that's what you're supposed to do in prison. "That's why they call it prison," he said.