CROSS CITY - Tuesday night, outside the Dixie County Courthouse, Jeffrey Wilson Gilliam pulled out wallet photos of his 2-year-old daughter, Alexandra, whose angelic smile charmed last years's Newberry Watermelon Festival.
"They want to take me away from that," says Gilliam, 31, a Levy County native who works at Chiefland Farm Supply.
There is an urgent tone to Gilliam's voice because jurors this morning will hear opening arguments and the beginning of evidence in Gilliam's trial for DUI manslaughter in the December 1997 death of a Louisiana man.
Lawyers in the case said state guidelines call for a minimum of eight to 10 years in prison upon conviction. Gilliam's family feels that is too harsh.
"I agree that it's always tragic when anyone dies, but this is a DUI accident - it's not premeditated," says Billy Geiger, Gilliam's father-in-law and a Florida Marine Patrol officer with 31 years in law enforcement.
"If I were a crack cocaine dealer, I wouldn't get prison on my first offense."
A long day of court Tuesday stretched into the evening as lawyers tried to pick a jury in a rural county where many are related or know each other.
In the gallery were the families of Gilliam and the victim, Alvin Penton, 70, of Baton Rouge, who was returning home a few days after Christmas after visiting relatives in Seminole.
Penton liked to drive at night and was headed north at about 1:20 a.m. on U.S. 19 about a half mile north of Chavous Road near Old Town when his pickup collided with Gilliam's truck, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Penton died at the scene, and Gilliam was flown to Shands at the University of Florida.
Inside Penton's mangles truck were wrapped presents for his great-granddaughter back in Louisiana, said Assistant State Attorney Dave Phelps.
An FHP investigation concluded Gilliam was driving the wrong way down the northbound lanes of the four-lane divided highway.
A blood sample drawn at the hospital indicated Gilliam had a .17 percent blood alcohol level, more than twice the .08 limit set by Florida law, according to court records.
Gilliams attorney, Robert Moeller of Cross City, plans on arguing the blood samples were mislabeled by a nurse, according to court records.
Moeller plans to argue that Gilliam had a few drinks in the hours before the crash but was nowhere near the legal limit.
Setting up an alternative theory of the wrong-way driving and crash, the defense has scheduled testimony from Dr. Anne Rottman, a Gainesville physician who was treating Gilliam for blackouts and other neurological disorders, according to court records.
Jurors deliberated 40 minutes Friday in Dixie County Circuit Court before finding Chiefland resident, Jeffrey Wilson Gilliam guilty of DUI-Manslaughter in the December 28, 1997, traffic death of a Louisiana man.
Seventy year old Alvin "Jake" Penton of Baton Rouge was killed when his pickup was struck head-on by Gilliam in Dixie County. Penton was returning home from a Christmas visit to his son's home in Seminole, Florida.
Members of the Gilliam and Penton families broke into sobs as the guilty verdict was read by Clerk of Court Hubert Allen.
"This is the kind of charge that always shatters two families," Assistant State Attorney Dave Phelps said. "That was pretty obvious in the courtroom by the reations of both families."
The maximum penalty for DUI-Manslaughter is 15 years in state prison, according to Phelps, but he said the court has the option of imposing a range of sentences.
Gilliam, 31, is to be sentenced on February 24. Circuit Judge James Roy Bean ordered a presentence investigation and released Gilliam. He will be supervised by the state probation and parole until sentencing.
The trial focused on whether Gilliam was driving with an unlawful blood alcohol content at the time of the crash or whether a brain injure from a 1996 truck accident caused him to black out.
Penton was travelling at approximately 60 to 65 miles per hour northbound on U.S. 19 when Gilliam made a right turn into the wrong lane of traffice and met Penton head-on. When paramedics arrived, Penton had a faint heartbeat, but died soon after at the scene.
Tests performed at Shands Hospital and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory in Tallahassee showed Gilliam's blood alcohol content was .180 shortly after the crash, more than twice the legal limit allowed by Florida law.
Phelps told jurors they had no choice but to find Gilliam guilty if the state proved that he was driving his truck when the crash occured, that he caused or contributed to Penton's death, and that he had an unlawful blood alcohol level.
Phelps used whitness testimony to show Gilliam was driving south in the northbound lane of U.S. 19 at 1:20 a.m. when he hit Penton head-on, that he had been drinking beer on teh day of the crash (although the number of beers was disputed), and that Penton died of multiple injuries sustained in the crash, including a severed aorta, the main artery to the heart.
Florida Highway Patrol Trooper David Roberts testified that he found Penton dead behind the wheel of his truck when he arrived at the scene. He observed Gilliam seated behind the steering wheel of his pickup. Gilliam ws not wearing a seatbelt, but his airbad had deployed. Roberts said he smelled alcohol on Gilliam's breath when he leaned into the truck. Paramedic Kevin Dowell also testified he smelled alcohol on Gilliam's breath.
Blood was drawn by Dowell in the ambulance. The sealed blood sample was mailed by Roberts to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory in Tallahassee. Blood was also drawn at Shands Hospital 30 minutes after the first sample was taken in the ambulance, according to witness testimony.
"When you look at all the evidence in this case, the three things the state must prove have been proven and there's nothing that can alter that fact," Phelps said.
Defense attorney Robert Moeller mounted an aggressive challenge to teh blood alcohol tests, arguing they were unreliable. He said Shands technician Jewel Kennan knew little about the machine she used to test Gilliam's blood and had never seen Gilliam, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Toxicologist Laura Barfield was a trained whiness who put on a "dog and pony show" for jurors, but could not prove the blood she tested was Gilliam's or that other samples tested in the same batch had not contaminated Gilliam's.
He produced witnesses who said Gilliam suffered from blackouts and memory lapses caused by a brain injury. Dr. Ann Rottman, a Gainesville neurologist, said she diagnosed Gilliam as suffering from traumatic brain seizure disorder. She said the disorder caused memory lapses and blackouts. However on cross examination, she said there was no way of knowing whether Gilliam was suffering a seizure at the time of the crash.
She said Gilliam suffered a brain injury in a 1996 traffic crash. She said the right side of the brain was injured. She said two tests on Gilliam's brain showed evidence of the disorder.
The crash occurred on May 5, 1996, on County Road 336 near Chiefland. Gilliam was ejected from his truck when it overturned. He came to rest lying on his back. Florida Highway Patrol Officer Greg Hingson cited him for not wearing a seatbelt.
Blood alcohol results from that 1996 crash were not given to the jury last week as a result of a pretrial ruling by Circuit Judge James Roy Bean. The tests could have prejudiced the jury.
Gilliam's father-in-law Billy Geiger, mother-in-law Darlene Geiger, wife Allison Gilliam and sister-in-law Alisa Kennedy testified that Gilliam's brain injury caused him to stare blankly at times, to forget events and to become disoriented. They said he was depressed and was taking medication for depression.
Moeller argued that if jurors held a resonable doubt in their minds concerning Gilliam's guilt they should find him not guilty. He said based on the testimony of the neurologist and family members, and the unreliable blood tests, there was reasonable doubt. And he said Gilliam came to court with a presumption of innocence adn was not required to prove anything.
Moeller said this was a case where a human being died, but he said there was no need to compound the tragedy by convicting an innocent man.
"A second tragedy is not going to remedy the first tragedy," he said.
But Phelps said even if Gilliam suffered a brain seizure before the crash, the blood tests showed he had an unlawful blood alcohol level. Phelps said the law required the jury to find Gilliam guilty if the state proved he was driving with an unlawful blood alcohol content adn that he caused or contributed to Penton's death.
The verdict brought emotional reactions from both families after court adjourned.
The Gilliam family remained in the courtroom and surrounded Jeff Gilliam.
"It's a situation worse than death, but we've got a close family. We'll get through it," Billy Geiger said.
Jerry Penton, one of the victim's sons; said he felt sorry for Jeff Gilliam's family. He said his heart goes out to them. But he said someone like himself, who has lost their father to a drunk driver, does not have the same feelings for the defendant.
Renva Penton, who was close to her father-in-law, said the family has suffered an enormous loss. She said Jake Penton was a devoted family man and a talented mechanic who enjoyed repairing antique cars. She said he will never see the grandchild that will be born this year and the family can never bring him back.
Jeffrey Wilson Gilliam was sentenced in Dixie County Circuit Court Monday to 10 years and 4 months in state prison for the death of a Louisiana man in a 1997 traffic crash.
Circuit Judge James Roy Bean ruled Gilliam could remain free on $20,000 bond pending the outcome of his appeal, a move supported by Gilliam's family but opposed by the victim's relatives.
Gilliam, a Chiefland resident, was driving the wrong way on US 19 in Dixie County on Dec. 28, 1997 when he hit Alvin J. Penton head on in the northbound lane. Penton died at the scene.
Gilliam was convicted of DUI manslaughter in a January jury trial. Sentencing guidelines called for a maximum prison term of 17 years and a minimum of 10 years.
Prosecutor Dave Phelps and Penton's family asked for the maximum sentence and requested Gilliam be held in jail until the appeal is settled, but lost on both counts.
Gilliam's family and friends pleaded for mercy, describing him as a good father and family man whose brain injury in an earlier accident had caused him to crash into Penton's truck.
Circuit Judge James Bean said nothing he could do would alter the tragedy.
"This case is very difficult for the court to deal with -- all the tragedy for both families," he said. "There's nothing this court could do to save the situation or make it better."
Gilliam received 124.5 months in state prison to be followed by three years of probation. The judge ordered him to pay Penton's $8,920 funeral bills plus court costs.
He also ordered Gilliam evaluated for substance abuse upon his release fro prison and said he could not drink or drive a motor vehicle. Gilliam's blood alcohol level after the fatal crash was .180, more than twice the legal limit in Florida.
Gilliam led a crime-free life up to the time of the crash and had worked as a prison guard at Lancaster Correctional Institution. Witnesses said he attends church and is a good father to his 2 year-old daughter.
Defense Attorney Robert Moeller asked the judge to consider Gilliam's work ethic and his life as a productive member of society. He said the crash was an isolated incident.
Moeller vigorously objected when Phelps attempted to argue that it wasn't an isolated crash. Phelps said Gilliam suffered his head injury on May 5, 1996 when his truck overturned on County Road 336 south of Chiefland.
Blood alcohol tests from teh 1996 crash were withheld from the jury that heard testimony on the DUI manslaughter case. Moeller successfully argued Monday that those tests also were not relevant to the sentencing.
However, the judge ruled that Phelps could make general statements about the crash to prive his claim that it was not an isolated incident.
Gilliam's appeal will be handled by Chiefland attorney David Hallman. The jury trial was handled by Moeller.