Intoxicated driver takes 40-year plea bargain

A pool of the jurors were seated and ready to be selected for the trial. \nAfter a weekend of late night counsel meetings, deputy prosecutors Jeff Kehr and Amy Travis and defense attorney Stuart Baggerly arrived at the Monroe County Court on Monday, braced for the trial of a man accused of crashing his car head-on into another car driven by 24-year-old IU alumna Kate Comiskey, killing her. But before any lawyers could utter opening statements, defendant Bryan "Mitch" Gooldy halted the proceedings. Just two hours after the court convened for trial, the day was done. Gooldy signed a plea and sentencing agreement under which he could serve up to 40 years in prison.\n"We all assumed this was going to be a trial," Baggerly said. \nHe claims his client, Gooldy, was responsible for the idea to make another plea because he did not want to put Comiskey's family through a lengthy ordeal. \n"(Gooldy) asked me if we could put the (plea) offer back on the table," Baggerly said. "He has always felt remorse for this and wanted to serve a sentence. He is a very spiritual and conscientious person."\nGooldy had originally rejected an identical plea deal from the Monroe County Prosecutor's office in June, hoping for an \nacquittal by jury.\nAlthough the defense requested Friday that Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Marc Kellams toss out the blood and urine substance test results evaluated three hours after the accident, Kellams denied the motion. \nTests revealed traces of opiates, cocaine and benzodiazepines, according to court documents. Benzodiazepines commonly come in the forms of sedatives or muscle relaxants. \nGooldy will plead guilty to a Class B felony of operating a vehicle with drugs, which resulted in Comiskey's death. The plea agreement will dismiss a second charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death, which is a Class C felony. \nGooldy agreed to 20 years for the felony charge, followed by 20 more years for a habitual offender enhancement. With Indiana prison credit time -- a state code that allows prisoners one day off their sentences for every one day served with good behavior -- the actual total sentence would be 20 years in jail.\nThe agreement also consists of a suspension of Gooldy's driver's license for an additional five years after prison release. Gooldy will not be able to drive again until he is 72 years old. \nMonroe County Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Kehr said this specific plea prevents Gooldy from modifying his sentence. \n"Sometimes after a sentence, (the defendant will) try to petition the judge to get out early, halfway through the sentence," Kehr said. "This plea means he cannot do that."\nGooldy returns to court Nov. 22 for official sentencing. \nThe defense claimed Oct. 17 that the police did not handle the chemical testing of Gooldy's blood and urine samples legally, according to the defendant's motion to suppress. \nThe complaints filed by the defense alleged that Bloomington Police Department Officer Dana Runnebohm "lacked probable cause to request that the hospital obtain a blood sample" and failed to comply with an existing state code for the proper "requesting and seizure of the fluids." \nRunnebohm stated she had requested Gooldy's samples from the hospital because her discussions with the paramedics led her to believe Comiskey was critically or fatally injured, according to court documents. She claimed she suspected substance abuse because Gooldy had "glassy eyes" and "multiple track marks on his arms." \nKehr said the observation of dangerous driving is reason enough to suspect substance abuse. \n"These are classic, telltale signs of impairment due to intoxication," Kehr argued in the state's response to the motion. "If the odor of alcohol on a driver's breath after an accident is itself sufficient for probable cause, then observed 'bad driving' must be as well." \nKehr asserted "bad driving" demonstrates actual impairment, while the smell of alcohol merely implies it. He insisted that not only did Runnebohm have probable cause, but had even more reason to request blood and urine testing than in many other cases. \nOn Nov. 9, 2004, two 911 phone calls from State Road 37 South commuters alerted authorities that a vehicle ahead of them had been veering across the centerline "since Martinsville, Ind.," according to court documents. \nJust a few minutes after receiving the complaints, the reports said Gooldy crossed into the opposite lane of traffic and collided with Comiskey's vehicle. \nAmbulances transported both Gooldy and Comiskey to Bloomington Hospital. Physicians pronounced Comiskey dead after suffering severe injuries from the crash. \nGooldy apologized to Comiskey's parents in court Monday. \n"He has expressed several times that he wished he had been the one killed in the accident," Baggerly said.