In a case that everyone involved agrees is very sad, it resulted in a Buhler man going to prison for 38-months or 3-years, 2-months.
39-year-old Matthew Yoder had entered a plea to involuntary manslaughter and told Judge Trish Rose that he deeply regrets the decision he made to drive drunk which resulted in an accident where a person was killed. He says he takes full responsibility for his actions and was ready to except the consequences, no matter what that might be.
This coming after his attorney argued for a downward departure, while the state argued against it. His attorney Kurt Kerns told the judge that this was a crime that was never intended. He says his client has suffered everyday since the accident including having post traumatic stress disorder. He says he still takes care of one of two children that he and his ex-wife adopted from Haiti. He says his client isn’t a violent offender which is what he believes prison is for.
But, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Davidson argued against the departure stating that the crime is a level 4 person felony because what happened is serious. He says the victim’s family will never be able to hug him again. He went on to say he’s glad to hear that Yoder is grieving because that shows he understands what he did is very serious. He believes that what is reasonable is for the judge to follow the statute in cases like this, which calls for a prison sanction. Davidson wanted the standard mid-range sentence of 41-months saying there isn’t any substantial or compelling reasons to depart. Kerns then pointed to all the people in the courtroom, family, friends and fellow church members. He says there are at 50 compelling reasons.
Judge Rose understood the sentiments of the defense but says she has an obligation to follow the law and says she couldn’t find any substantial reason to depart. She says she sees the punishment as a deterrent, that if you drink and drive and someone dies, you’re going to go to prison. She did grant Yoder the mitigated number on the sentencing grid box which is 38-months, or 3-years, two months in prison.
Yoder was charged in the case after a car crash that killed one his passengers and injured two others. It was July 26, 2011, when Yoder was going north on Elm just after 2:30 in the morning, ran a stop sign at the intersection with East 11th, and his car was hit broadside by a west bound car driven by 23-year-old Kyle Ridgeway. Yoder’s car continued to the northwest part of the intersection where it hit a utility pole.
A passenger in Yoder’s vehicle, 29-year-old John Senabulya of Hutchinson was killed in the collision. A third person in his car was taken to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. Ridgeway was also taken to Hutchinson Regional where he suffer a dislocated shoulder.
Yoder allegedly had a blood alcohol level of .11. He had told officers that he had five rum and cokes while at a local nightclub.
The judge did allow Yoder the weekend to get his affairs in order and told him to surrender to the Reno County Jail Monday morning, no later then 8:30 a-m.