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Man gets 10 years in fatal hit-run

Victor Benson pleads no contest to two charges, including driving with a suspended license,when he killed 36-year-old James Hume with his SUV and left the scene.

By MICHAEL KRUSE
Published June 10, 2006

James H. Hume, whose last listed address was a Weeki Wachee Pak Mail store where he rented a post office box, died about 30 feet off the asphalt shoulder. He was 36.

Benson was arrested three days later and charged with third-degree murder, driving with a suspended license and leaving the scene of a fatal wreck. On Friday in the courtroom of Circuit Judge Stephen Rushing, Benson, who is out of the Hernando County Jail on $10,000 bail, pleaded no contest to charges of driving with a suspended license and leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in a death.

He will be sentenced to a bit more than 10 years in state prison on Aug. 8. The date was set later so Hume's mom and stepdad can attend from Texas.

"He pled to what they could prove," said Benson's attorney, Jeff Cario of Spring Hill. "It's bad because he's going to prison for 10 years. But it could've been a lot worse."

"It was one of these things where he veered off the road and hit the guy," prosecutor Bill Catto said. "And for a multitude of reasons - some of which are obvious, some of which will never be known - he decided to run."

When emergency workers got there, Hume wasn't breathing, authorities said at the time. They tried CPR but soon stopped.

Court documents and records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement show Benson's considerable criminal past. His record includes speeding, driving carelessly, driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and growing marijuana. His license was suspended indefinitely four months before he hit Hume.

A possession of methamphetamines charge also was pending at the time of the accident. That was resolved, too, as part of the plea deal.

The sentence is the minimum based on state law. Catto said it was okay with the Florida Highway Patrol and the victim's family.

Cario said Benson is "devastated" by what happened last October.

"It's hit him hard," the attorney said.

Why did he leave the scene?

"He just got nervous, I guess," Cario said. "I don't know why people do things. He didn't make a good decision."

Benson didn't talk on Friday.

"He's never made any statement to the police or to the court, and he's not required to," Catto said. "Maybe on Aug. 8 he'll have something to say."

As for Hume?

"There's no indication from any of the witnesses where he might have been going that day," Catto said. "Just that he was suddenly ... gone."

Michael Kruse can be reached at mkruse@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434.

[Last modified June 10, 2006, 08:20:49]