The man who accidentally hit and killed Norm Watenpaugh with a car will not serve jail time, thanks to a rare display of clemency by the victim's family.
Stephen Lake was sentenced to an unusually high 400 hours of community service, three years of probation and $2,110 in court and restitution costs at the San Martin Courthouse on Friday afternoon for hitting and killing local bird enthusiast Norm Watenpaugh Oct. 15, 2006. The 29-year-old Lake - who struck Watenpaugh about 7 p.m. while Watenpaugh was on the tail end of a two-mile walk following his 76th birthday party - could also have his license suspended or modified by the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
Lake, a trained emergency medical technician who stopped after the accident and tried to revive Watenpaugh, could have received a year in county prison and a $1,000 fine. However, Watenpaugh's family wrote a letter arguing against this punishment.
"When I looked at the probation report and learned that the victim's daughter was not advocating for the maximum jail sentence, but rather was suggesting that Mr. Lake perform public service, I was quite frankly astounded - pleasantly so," Superior Court Judge Hector Ramon said to Watenpaugh's nine wet-eyed family members and friends at sentencing. "This is the only time that I can remember of any case where the victim's family advocated for public service rather than incarceration."
The family said incarceration would not benefit Lake or the community. Building birdhouses for the Audubon Society or volunteering with developmentally disabled youth - projects Watenpaugh was known for - would start to replace the thousands of community service hours Gilroy lost, daughter Norma Watenpaugh said during the sentencing.
"There's not much you can do to replace a father or a grandfather, but there's something (Lake) can do to put back service and charity in to the community," she said, bringing her mother Michiko Watenpaugh to tears.
Deputy District Attorney Amir Alem and Lake's public defender, Tim Fukai, also praised the Watenpaughs' stance.
"I've been doing this for 20 years," Fukai said. "I've never seen a letter like this. I have to commend you as a family for coming through the grief. You have found forgiveness, and that is truly difficult."
Supported by his grandparents, mother and girlfriend, Lake addressed the family for the first time in the courtroom, looking them in the eye and struggling to get out short, staccato sentences.
"I want to apologize for what I was a direct cause of," he said. "I understand that something was taken from the family. I would like to see if there's anything I can do to carry on his legacy so it's not forgotten."
After the sentencing, Lake thanked members of the Watenpaugh family for their forgiveness and pledged his commitment to performing the community service through avenues chosen by the family - as dictated by the sentence. Lake wanted to speak with them and make amends, but was advised by attorneys not to do so until after the sentencing, he said.
"I've been wanting to do something that's positive so it's not just an accident," he said.
Though satisfied with the sentence, the ruling does not change the sorrow the family feels, Michiko Watenpaugh said.
"No matter what the sentence is, time won't go back," she said.
The one weight lifted off her shoulder is that she won't have to go to court, she said.
"I'm really glad it's over," she said.
Christopher Quirk Christopher Quirk is the online editor for South Valley Newspapers. Contact him at 408-427-7240 or cquirk@gilroydispatch.com.
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