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Driver's no contest plea stays

Circuit Judge Ric Howard tells William Thornton IV "you don't get do-overs in the law."

By JOHN FRANK
Published July 29, 2006

INVERNESS - William Thornton IV pleaded no contest to a fatal car wreck that killed two Citrus County residents in 2004, and no contest is what he will get.

Circuit Judge Ric Howard rejected the 18-year-old Sumter County man's request to change his plea after he was given 30 years in prison, telling him Friday that "you don't get do-overs in the law."

"A person cannot be permitted to offer an open plea under oath, understanding he could receive the maximum sentence ... and then change his mind because he doesn't like the result," Howard said in issuing his decision.

Howard determined that Thornton entered his plea voluntarily and knowingly, as Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman argued in court.

The judge even played a 30-minute audio recording of the court appearance during which Thornton entered his plea to demonstrate that the full weight of the charges were carefully explained.

Defense attorney Rob Christensen argued that Thornton received bad legal advice from his previous lawyers.

"We are not asking for leniency," he said. "What we are asking for is the ability to start again."

Christensen said after the ruling that they would appeal their case to a higher court.

The crash happened just before midnight Dec. 28, 2004. Thornton was speeding home to Oxford after visiting his girlfriend in Citrus when he skidded through a stop sign on a poorly lit road.

From Bauer Road, he slid onto State Road 44, colliding with a sport utility vehicle carrying Brandon Mushlit, 25, and his girlfriend, Sara Jo Williams, 23. Neither wore a seat belt, and they were thrown from the vehicle.

Thornton, who was 17 at the time, pleaded no contest, thinking the judge would sentence him to juvenile detention, a sentence suggested by state officials and his attorney, former Assistant Public Defender Eric Evilsizer.

But with no agreement in place, punishment was left up to Howard, a judge known for issuing tough sentences. He gave Thornton the maximum, 30 years for two charges of vehicular homicide.

The ruling sparked an outcry from the elected public defender as well as community and family members, who asked Howard to step aside from the case and claimed that the white judge was prejudiced against the black defendant.

Many observers, including area NAACP officials, contrasted Thornton's sentence against the case of Jennifer Porter, a white Pasco County woman sentenced to house arrest and community service after leaving the scene of a crash that left two black children dead.

The allegations and deep emotions stained the case, and Howard took time Friday to defend himself.

He blasted Assistant Public Defender Dale Merrill, who represented Thornton after Evilsizer left for private practice, for making the racial claims.

"Race didn't have a thing to with anything," Howard said strongly.

Thornton's mother, Lola, said Howard was predisposed to rule against her son.

"I know how Judge Howard is; he already had his mind made up when he went in there," she said.

In 2003, her husband, Michael, received a 30-year prison sentence from the judge for stealing jewelry and gold coins in 2003.

She cried as Howard announced his decision and hugged her son before he returned to jail.

"He told me to stop crying and keep praying," she said.

Linda Mushlit, Brandon's mother, also attended the court hearing. She said she was satisfied with the judge's decision. It was fair, she said, but "it'll never replace my son."

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 860-7312.

[Last modified July 28, 2006, 22:46:53]