BANGOR, Maine — A Superior Court justice Tuesday rejected a plea agreement that would have put a Brewer man behind bars for two years for causing the car accident that left a teenager paralyzed.
Gordon Cameron, 26, is due back before Justice William Anderson in August to determine whether he will go to trial or a new plea agreement can be worked out.
Cameron, 26, of Brewer pleaded guilty on June 4 at the Penobscot Judicial Center to aggravated assault and criminal operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants in connection with the March 30, 2011, crash in Brewer.
Anderson accepted Cameron’s guilty pleas but held off sentencing him until Tuesday, when he rejected the deal. The agreement worked out between Michael Roberts, deputy district attorney for Penobscot County and defense attorney Terence Harrigan of Bangor called for Cameron to be sentenced to five years in prison with all but two years suspended and three years of probation on the assault charge.
Anderson said Tuesday that two years was not a severe enough sentence based on the permanent injuries suffered by the victim.
“The fact that the victim opposes this sentence is something to consider,” Anderson said. “But, I doubt any sentence that could be imposed would satisfy the victim and her family.”
It is the practice of the Bangor Daily News not to identify the victims of crimes.
On June 4, the victim, now 19, tearfully begged the judge to sentence Cameron to spend more time behind bars for causing the crash that paralyzed her from the chest down.
“Please make an example out of him with the sentencing,” said the woman, who uses a wheelchair. “Each day is punishing enough for me. I don’t need to be reminded of what happened.
“This is my reality and I’m living it,” she concluded. “So, please, all that I am asking is for you to give him a stiffer sentence. He’s well past his due.”
The victim and her family attended Tuesday’s brief hearing but did not address the court nor speak to the media.
The crash occurred near the junction of North Main Street and Gettysburg Avenue around 12:20 a.m. March 30, 2011, Roberts told Anderson on June 4. Cameron, who had been drinking, was driving his Chevrolet Cavalier and arguing with the victim.
Cameron told police that he threatened to drive the car into a pole, the prosecutor said. He swerved the car toward a pole to scare her but apparently lost control and struck a pole farther north on the same side of the road at a speed of more than 60 mph, Roberts said earlier this month.
A blood test showed that Cameron’s blood-alcohol level was 0.09 an hour and 15 minutes after the accident, according to Roberts. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.
The agreement also called for Cameron to serve the mandatory minimum sentence on the felony drunken driving charge of six months, pay the mandatory $2,100 fine and have his driver’s license suspended for six years.
Roberts recommended June 4 that the most serious charge that Cameron originally faced — elevated aggravated assault, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison — be dismissed.
Anderson did not object Tuesday to that part of the agreement.
Cameron remains free on bail.
Good two years is not enough.
I hope this is a slap in the face of the Michael Roberts. I’ve always wondered why the victims are never included in plea deals.
Maybe some justice for once huh?
Victim here. thanks to the people who see where i am coming from where i want him to get a longer sentence i did go with him that night but i was also with him 2 years prior to that I never thought anyone could hurt a person the way he did me physically…
I’m so sorry to hear about what happened to you. I think that the plea deal was terrible. A five year sentence with all but two years suspended is a slap on the wrist. And the fact that he threatened to run the car into the telephone pole is frightening enough and then of course doing it is … well it’s beyond words. I also don’t think alcohol can be completely blamed on this as his BAC wasn’t that high an hour and a half after the incident. I just think he is mean spirited and needs to pay for that bad personality trait with a trip to prison for at least five years.
I think this deal would not teach him any lesson at all.
Your life is forever changed. I hope and pray you make a full recovery. Keep positive thoughts and never give up. All the best to you, your family and those working with you on your rehab.
I agree with your reasoning and I understand your pain as I to am a paralysis survivor though not from an accident but a life of sitting none the less. I really think the justice system needs to go back to mandatory sentencing and stop all these plea deals as the accountability because obsolete. I back you and I hope Judge Anderson stays strong and give Mr. Roberts a sentence long enough to be a lesson as opposed to a lighter sentence that is an inconvenience. Best wishes to you and stay strong for your beliefs.
Corie, THANK YOU, for standing up to the courts about your desire to see justice served properly. I have to think if more did this and took a stance against these lawyers and judges that make behind the scenes decisions without even finding out what the victim feels about it, maybe more judges would also stand up and stop allowing it. God Bless and I pray he remembers what he did to you every day for the rest of his life.
From the article: “The agreement worked out between Michael Roberts, deputy district
attorney for Penobscot County and defense attorney Terence Harrigan of
Bangor called for Cameron to be sentenced to five years in prison with
all but two years suspended and three years of probation on the assault
charge.”
I think that Deputy District Attorney Roberts needs be reminded that he’s supposed to be PROSECUTING the criminals instead of making sweetheart deals with them. Thank goodness the judge rejected that ridiculous plea deal.
There was no reason to remove my comment…it was totally by the rules…unlike the ones that go after Michael Roberts…if you still have it…please read it…and explain your actions. It was not part of the nasty responses that you removed. Somebody needs to learn their editing job better.
I agree. Mine was removed also, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with what was written.
Mine was also removed, no idea why.
well if your comment got deleted please comment back with what you said i would love to hear what u say???? or email me corietyler321@ yahoo.com. BUT PLEASE DO TELL ME WHAT YOU YOU WANTED TO SAY… thanks- Corie allen
Hats off to the judge for seeing that 2 years was not enough for the crime committed here and the seriousness of the injury this individual inflicted on another human being. Its time to start giving the individuals the time that is deserving of the crimes they commit and stop slapping them on the wrist. Obviously whatever sentence handed to this individual will ever be enough to bring back what has been taken from the victim.
I must say that i am pleasantly surprised. Finally we have a judge in this city that has a conscience and who does the RIGHT thing, not what the lawyers barter to have done by underhandedly deciding the outcome before it ever makes it to the judge. I would love to see more judges say NO to plea deals and start letting the punishments fit the crimes. Nothing will give that poor girl her life the way that it was back, and 2 years was little penalty for taking that.