driving with suspended license- 17 months prison
But despite the anger she felt toward the man responsible for her daughter’s death in a 1991 drunken-driving crash, Mrs. Henderson said she just couldn’t face William Kutz II again.
Kutz, 49, appeared in a Lucas County Common Pleas courtroom Monday to face prison time for driving – allegedly after drinking – despite his license having been permanently revoked.
Judge Ruth Ann Franks sentenced him to 17 months in prison after he pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to an amended charge of attempted driving under specified lifetime suspension.
“I think the judge did what she could do, but I wish he got longer,” Mrs. Henderson said in a phone interview later. “My feeling is: life. You took a life, you should go for life.”
Kutz, of 316 Teal Drive, Toledo, was initially charged with driving under specified lifetime suspension, a felony punishable up to five years in prison. The suspension was a result of a drunken-driving crash on Airport Highway and Albon Road nearly two decades ago.
According to Blade archives and court records, he was convicted for causing a crash Aug. 10, 1991, that killed Rhonda Carpenter, 19, of Swanton. Her husband, Malcolm, then 21, was the driver of the vehicle and was seriously injured.
Kutz eventually was indicted on several charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide. He pleaded no contest to the charge, including a drunken-driving specification, and was sentenced in May, 1992, to 4 to 10 years in prison.
He was allowed to stay the sentence pending appeals. His sentence began after the Supreme Court of Ohio declined to hear the case in September, 1993.
Officials said Kutz served about nine years of the sentence before he was released. As part of his sentence, his driver’s license was revoked permanently.
On Monday, Assistant County Prosecutor Tim Braun said he checked with Colorado authorities where Kutz had obtained a driver’s license.
Mr. Braun said Kutz was granted a license to drive in Colorado after a magistrate hearing.
Judge Franks cited the 1991 crash, as well as an extensive traffic record that dated back to 1979, and noted that Kutz was intoxicated the most recent time he had been pulled over.
Kutz was stopped June 3 on Teal Drive for driving 50 mph in a 35 mph zone. The Ohio Highway Patrol trooper who made the stop said he smelled alcohol. Charges in that case are pending in Toledo Municipal Court, where a pretrial is scheduled Tuesday.
Mrs. Henderson recalls learning that her daughter was in a terrible accident and arriving on scene to see the mangled car. She said the images haunt her still.
“I would hope to God that he learns his lesson this time so he doesn’t wind up killing someone else and put another family through the hell I’ve been through,” Mrs. Henderson said.
