Adrian driver found guilty in crash that killed 5 in Ohio

Sat, May 10, 2008    to del.icio.us

TOLEDO, Ohio — Danny Griffin grew quiet when the man who slammed a pickup truck into his family's van stepped into the courtroom Friday.

He rubbed a necklace he was wearing against his lips while a prosecutor described what happened the night Griffin was driving the family home to Maryland after spending Christmas with relatives near Detroit. And his chest heaved when the names of the five killed in the accident — four children and Griffin's wife — were said aloud in court.

Michael Gagnon of Adrian was convicted Friday of driving the wrong way on an interstate and plowing into the minivan on Dec. 30.

Gagnon, 24, pleaded no contest to five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated vehicular assault. Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Linda Jennings found him guilty.

Gagnon's blood-alcohol level was more than double the legal limit, and he also had marijuana in his system, said assistant prosecutor Jeff Lingo.

"It's not hard to figure out why he was going the wrong way on the expressway," Lingo said.

Gagnon now faces up to 50 years in prison when sentenced June 27.

Gagnon and family and friends had gathered at a bar in suburban Toledo on Dec. 30 to celebrate the New Year. He bought five buckets of beer and 10 shots of tequila that night, although it's unclear how much he drank, Lingo said. Gagnon stayed at the bar for at least four hours before bartenders cut him off, Lingo said.

He then left and went out for fast-food. He took a wrong turn onto I-280. Gagnon drove about four miles in the wrong direction and just missed several other cars before his truck struck the minivan filled with six children and Griffin and his wife.

The minivan was rounding a curve when the truck came directly at the family. Both drivers tried to avoid each other, but the crash ripped open one side of the van, hurtling some of the victims into the road and scattering toys, stuffed animals and bits of gift wrap.

An infant's car seat sat upright in the road.

At the crash scene, Gagnon told a witness "I'm wasted," Lingo said. His speech was slurred and he smelled of alcohol at the crash scene, police said.

Bethany Griffin, 36, of Parkville, Md., and three of her daughters — Vadi Griffin, 2 months; Lacie Burkman, 7; and Haley Burkman, 10 — died in the crash along with Jordan Griffin, 10, the daughter of Danny Griffin, 36.

Danny Griffin was injured in the accident along with two other children.

Griffin and other family members sat close together in the courtroom Friday, wearing buttons with pictures of the five who died.

Gagnon, who still has a scar on his chin from the accident, hung his head as he sat with his hands cuffed and feet shackled.

He stared blankly ahead while Lingo went over what happened the night of the crash. "He knows how serious it is," said his attorney Richard Sanders. "He realizes the devastation it caused."

Two weeks after the crash, Gagnon wrote a letter to one of the survivors and has written more letters since then, Sanders said.

None of them have been mailed.

Now that he has pleaded no contest, he hopes to reach out to the families of the victims, Sanders said. "He's been remorseful the entire time," his attorney said.

Following the accident, Gagnon's family members said he made a mistake but was not a monster. They said what happened was out of character for Gagnon, who had been attending community college to become an architect.

He and his brother owned a construction business.