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February 8, 2010

Formal sentencing slated for Whitney

Victim impact statements from the Gourd family will be a part of the proceedings.

By BOB GIBBINS

Family members of a father and two sons killed in a Oct. 27, 2008, crash have prepared victim impact statements to be presented at Anthony Joseph Whitney II’s formal sentencing later this month.

Some of the statements of the family of Rudy, Russell and Eli Gourd have been filed in Whitney’s first-degree manslaughter case. Jurors convicted Whitney, 31, last month of three counts of manslaughter, and recommended sentences totaling 150 years. He will stand before District Judge Darrell Shepherd Feb. 18, at 9 a.m., for formal sentencing.

Shepherd ordered a pre-sentence investigation that will look into Whitney’s background and his version of the offense. Whitney didn’t testify at the three-day trial.

“My heart has been shattered into a million pieces,” wrote Emily Gourd, Rudy’s daughter and Russell’s and Eli’s sister. “I don’t want to hear an apology.”

Other family members wrote they wonder about what might have been if the fatal crash hadn’t occurred. Another family member said the crash has also had an impact on the younger Gourd children.

Whitney will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole or any kind of release. Shepherd could order the sentences to run consecutively or concurrently or several combinations of ways.

Assistant District Attorney David Pierce represents the state and Crystal Jackson represents Whitney.

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The use of cell phones while driving is increasingly becoming an issue. What do you think about cell phone use by emergency personnel, like law enforcement officers, EMTs, firemen, etc.?

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