Lawyer guilty of 2nd-degree manslaughter

STAFF WRITER

After deliberating five hours yesterday, a jury found former Williamson attorney Lafe P. “Dee” Ward Jr. guilty of second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of Benita “Wirleen” Dixon on Jan. 10, 2006. The nine-woman, three-man jury then recommended a 10-year prison sentence.

Ward's defense team rested its case early yesterday without presenting any witnesses. During closing arguments, defense attorney David Friedman told the jury that they got to see firsthand into the mind of Ward the evening that the Lincoln Navigator he was driving hit Dixon's Toyota Camry at an intersection on U.S. 119 in Goody. Friedman said the video evidence provided by surveillance cameras at the South Williamson CVS and Food City stores, as well as that provided by the Kentucky State Police, showed a family man who was going home to deliver groceries to his family and who told police they could ask him anything about the collision.

Friedman said the video evidence showed that Ward had no depravity of mind nor heart; he just missed a stop light.

Friedman pointed out that all of the witnesses who testified that they saw the crash were distracted that day - one was looking at a new pair of ballet slippers, another was looking at her daughter. He said it is not uncommon for people to be distracted while driving and possibly cause an accident.

Friedman said there is no question that Ward was drinking that day and no question that he drove to the two stores where none of the pharmacy clerks noticed any erratic behavior on his part. He added that it is not unusual for patients to get medications from two different pharmacies because different doctors use different pharmacies. Friedman stressed that there was “not one iota of evidence whatsoever” that Ward was doctor shopping.

Friedman went on to say that the Darvocet levels in Ward's blood analysis was too low for him to have taken four and a half of the painkillers just moments before hitting Dixon's car, as the prosecution alleged. He said the level would have been “off the chart” if Ward had taken that number of pills at that time.

Friedman also contended that Ward exercised “due caution” before entering the highway from Food City's parking lot because a witness testified that she had to wait behind Ward before she could enter the highway. He also said that Ward showed concern for the occupants of Dixon's car and his family after the wreck.

“I would contend to you that a man who is depraved of mind and heart would not express concern for the people he hit,” Friedman said, adding that Ward showed “complete respect” for law enforcement at the scene.

Commonwealth's Attorney Rick Bartley told the jury that the case reminded him of a railroad track.

“What track was Benita Dixon on?” Bartley asked. “What track was Greg Dixon (her husband) on that day?”

Bartley said that Dixon's track was going to her job at Wal-Mart, while Ward's track was to go to a couple of different doctors, get a bunch of pills “and gobble ‘em down” after drinking vodka in his office.

That's the track he's on,” Bartley stressed.

“They crossed,” he continued talking about the two tracks. “They crossed at that Wal-Mart intersection.”

Bartley encouraged the jury to have sympathy for Dixon, saying that Ward was aware that what he was doing was wrong.

“It's a crime. It's murder,” Bartley said. “He killed this woman sure as the world. ... He was a ticking bomb. When was it going to go off? Who was it going to kill? It killed Mrs. Dixon.”

Bartley said it was not a hard case.

“You've got an opportunity here to tell Lafe Ward that he was wrong,” he said.

During the five-hour deliberation, jurors reviewed video evidence and asked questions about some of the instructions given to them by Pike County Circuit Court Judge Eddy Coleman. Once they returned with the verdict, Coleman polled each of them to ensure that they agreed on second-degree manslaughter.

Following the verdict, Greg Dixon told the jury that he did not agree with the fact that they did not find Ward guilty of murder.

“I don't agree with the sentence handed down today, but I have to live with it,” an emotional Dixon said, adding that his wife was a beautiful person, great wife and great mother. “She's not going to be eligible for parole in two years, three years.”

Ward's father, Lafe Ward Sr., said everyone in the Ward family is sorry for the situation.

“We regret this tragic accident,” Ward Sr. said. “It's been hard on both families.”

Ward Sr. added that he hoped everyone involved could find it in their hearts for forgive and move forward and that Dee Ward is “full of hurt and anguish over it himself.”

Defense attorney Steve Owens said he did not disagree with the verdict, telling the jury they had a hard job.

“I feel for that loss,” he said of Dixon's death. “We all feel for that loss.”

Owens told the jury that when deliberating Ward's sentence, he hoped they would consider that he would be without his three children and they without him.

Bartley said that people come to court looking for justice.

“What is justice for a woman who was killed by somebody who's out drinking, driving and doing pills?” he asked, adding that he felt sorry for Ward's family, but not for Ward.

After deliberating for only a few minutes, the jury returned with a recommendation that Ward be sentenced to 10 years in prison - the maximum sentence for his conviction. Ward must serve 20 percent - two years - of the sentence before being eligible for parole. Because he has been incarcerated since the incident, Ward will be given credit for the 13 months served and have to serve 11 more months before attempting to be paroled.

Coleman scheduled formal sentencing for 9 a.m. March 23.