Driver gets 33 years in prison in accident

A Wilkes County man was convicted yesterday of two counts of second-degree murder and his seventh DWI.

Ricky Dean Norman, 55, was sentenced in Wilkes Superior Court to at least 33 years in prison for the deaths of Harley and Helen Carter. The couple died after Norman's truck collided with their Buick as Harley Carter tried to pull out onto Old U.S. 21 on March 26, 2007.

Jurors were told of four of Norman's prior DWI convictions and instructed they could use those convictions as evidence of malice in considering the murder charges. Convictions from 1972 and 1983 were too old to be admissible for the trial.

The trial lasted a week. Jurors were out about two hours before returning a unanimous verdict for the murder charges and DWI, as well as speeding and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Just before Norman was sentenced, he told Judge Carl Fox that he'd had four beers the day of the accident, was not impaired and tried to stop as soon as he could.

"I know on account of my record I was convicted," Norman said. "That's the only thing."

Fox, senior resident Superior Court judge in Orange County and visiting in Wilkes for this term of court, asked Norman if it's OK to drink four beers and drive.

"Yes," Norman said. "It's nowhere near the legal limit."

Norman told the judge he was sorry the Carters died.

"I hate it awful," he said. "I wish I'd have died."

The judge raised his voice when Norman told him again that he didn't think he was impaired.

"If your mind is thinking it's OK to drink and drive, your mind is messed up, your reasoning is messed up," Fox told him. "Now I want you to be quiet because anything you say after this point is going to make me raise the amount of time I give you in this case."

Much of the trial testimony involved experts who had opposing views about how intoxicated Norman was and how far he was from the intersection when Harley Carter pulled out in front of him.

A blood test two hours after the accident showed Norman's blood alcohol content was .03. A prosecution expert said it would have been .08 at the time of the accident. A defense expert said it could have been lower than .08, which is the legal limit.

Harley Carter was 82, a World War II veteran who helped liberate a Nazi concentration camp.

In closing arguments Monday, District Attorney Tom Horner called Carter a pillar of the community. He said that Norman was "literally the poster child of why you can convict someone for second-degree murder for driving while impaired."

After court yesterday, members of the Carter family, including daughters Glenda Watson and Tammy Rice and son Gary Carter, praised the DA's office for getting Norman off the road.

"Our motive was not revenge, it was to make sure it didn't happen again," said Glenda Watson.

Before sentencing, Rice read a statement in court on behalf of herself and her brother and sister.

"Mama and daddy were a rock for the three of us," she said. "Their home where we all grew up was the place we felt most loved and safe and untouchable."

She said that all of them have suffered and are tormented by what happened to their parents.

"(Daddy) did not deserve to die this way," she said. "Neither did our dear sweet mama, who sewed our clothes and cooked our meals and cared for us…. They should have been allowed to die in bed surrounded by their family that loved them. We never had a chance to say goodbye."

Fox sentenced Norman to between 16 years and eight months and 20 years and nine months in the death of Harley Carter and to a similar term for Helen Carter, 73. That term is to start after the first one. Norman would be at least 88 years old when he is released from prison.

During the trial, Norman was a prison inmate in connection with another DWI conviction. He was supposed to be released in about two weeks. That information was not shared with jurors.

After the sentencing, the judge spoke to the courtroom, which was crowded with people who were there on other matters.

"This situation like this, it can happen to you when you least expect it," he said. "Stop this foolishness; stop this impaired driving on our highways."

■ Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com.