Resler sentenced to 10 years for teens' deaths

Bigfork Eagle

More than a year after a drunk driving accident that left two teens dead, Daniel Wade Resler, 32, was sentenced last Tuesday in Thompson Falls.

District Judge Kim Christopher sentenced Resler to 10-years in the Montana Department of Corrections (20 years for each felony charge, with 15 years deffered) and recommended that that Resler serve at least 13 months in Montana State Prison for the deaths of 19-year-old Brad Michael Williams of Somers and 16-year-old Kyle David McCullugh of Kalispell.

Christopher also ordered Resler to refrain from consuming alcohol for the rest of his life, requiring him to submit to urinalysis tests for alcohol, whenever so requested by law enforcement.

In addition, Resler will remain under court supervision with numerous restrictions until he is 73 years old and will be required to perform community service. He could also be orderd to undergo a six-to-13-month treatment program at Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs, which caters to felony DUI offenders after prison, as well as to either serve time at a pre-release center or undergo a highly supervised probation.

Resler pled guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide, admitting to having driven his 2003 Dodge pickup while under the influence of alcohol, in the early hours of March 3, when the vehicle struck and killed both young men.

Williams died at the scene but was transported to Clark Fork Valley Hospital, where the official pronouncement was made. McCullugh was flown to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula and died one day later.

Resler's blood-alcohol level showed twice the legal limit when tested, but the sample of Resler's blood, which was taken at the Clark Fork Valley Hospital was called into question, leading to a claim of extenuating circumstances during plea bargaining.

Records indicate that a blood sample was obtained from Resler at the Clark Fork Valley Hospital, at the request of the Montana Highway Patrol and Sanders County Sheriff’s deputies, and later taken to the state crime lab in Missoula. However, highway patrolman and lead investigator Tony Cox testified last Tuesday that the chain of custody was broken when a deputy left the blood sample at a nurses station without sealing and labeling it as evidence.

Williams' mother, Carla Hayak, said she was both horrified and outraged at the way the Sanders County law enforcement had handled the case but added that she believed Judge Christopher had handed down the toughest sentence possible under the circumstances.

Christopher's sentence was, in fact, more stringent than the one called for in the plea agreement, which she threw out during the sentencing.

Even so, Hayak said she felt the outcome was unfair to the families of the victims, who had not seen justice served. Both William's and McCullough's families originally sought a prison term of 35 years—the combined ages of Williams and McCullough at the time of their death.

“I have absolutely no faith in the judicial system from Sanders County,” Hayak said. “Everything was mishandled. I couldn’t even get any answers for one year straight.”

Although Sanders County Attorney Coleen I. Magera refuted allegations that her office ignored the families of the victims and neglected to involve them in the plea bargain process, Hayak accused Magera of lying to both Christopher and the court.

Magera stated during the hearing that she had written 12 letters to the two families, made 92 phone calls and held nine personal meetings—a claim that Hayak and her husband Lon both refuted.

“Most of the time, I felt like it was my son that did something wrong that night or that my family had done something wrong. The whole time that I was dealing with Sanders County, I felt like I was the one who had committed a crime.”

Hayek said that her next mission in life will be to push for legislation to establish a mandatory minimum prison sentence for vehicular homicides where alcohol was involved, expressing her belief that the current system is geared more toward protecting the offender's rights than the rights of victims or their families.

“It should not be up to a judge or to an attorney how long of a jail sentence that someone will serve,” she said. “It should be up to the state to say, 'This is the way it's going to be.' It shouldn't be a plea bargain game.”

Hayek has already begun her appeal to legislators, including local House Representative Mark Blasdel, to pursue drafting such legislation.

Blasdel, said he felt a personal relationship to the case because he has known the Hayeks his entire life. He described the outcome of the sentencing as both a major disappointment and a low blow to friends and families of the victims.

“I'm hoping that we can move forward with some legislation,” Blasdel said. “Something sure needs to be done, because this is happening way too often.”