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BISBEE — An elderly Sierra Vista man will spend 4 1/2 months in jail and serve up to four years of intensive probation after he pleaded no contest on Tuesday to criminal negligence in the death of another local man.
John Covert, 74, was accused of recklessly causing the death of Donald Loyd Keltner, 44, during a traffic accident in September 2005. Covert reportedly had a blood-alcohol content of 0.145 — well above the legal limit of 0.08 — when he was tested shortly after his truck collided with Keltner’s van at the intersection of Buffalo Soldier Trail and Avenida Cochise in Sierra Vista.
Covert had initially agreed to a plea deal that would have given him presumptive prison terms of five years on a manslaughter charge and one year on an endangerment charge. But he abruptly pulled out of the deal during a hearing in October, forcing the county attorney to either take the case to trial or forge a new plea agreement.
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Deputy prosecutor Vince Festa told Judge James Conlogue on Tuesday that if the case had gone to trial, a passenger riding with Keltner at the time of the accident would have testified that Covert could not have avoided the accident.
Furthermore, Festa and defense attorney Michael Farro both said evidence presented at trial would have shown that Keltner also was driving while impaired.
Festa said Keltner’s wife and sister had been “generous and realistic” when they agreed to the state’s new plea deal with Covert.
As he entered his no contest plea, Covert said he didn’t remember anything about the accident.
He will be formally sentenced on Feb. 9 in Division 3 of Cochise County Superior Court.
herald/review reporter Jonathan Clark can be reached at 515-4693 or by e-mail at jonathan.clark@bisbeereview.net.
TheSilverRose wrote on Jun 27, 2009 10:22 PM:
Thank You! "