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A Vero Beach man who testified he fled from police because he discovered a large amount of marijuana in his lap and thought it was a bomb someone tossed into his car was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Circuit Judge Dan L. Vaughn ordered David L. Bennett, 38, to serve 30 years for his conviction by a jury Aug. 15 on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, fleeing and eluding police, and driving with a revoked driver's license.
At Bennett's trial, Indian River County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Sposato testified he saw Bennett sitting in a car outside a business in the 3000 block of 45th Street about 2 a.m. on May 8, 2005.
Sposato testified he shined his flashlight into the car and saw two clear bags filled with marijuana in Bennett's lap. Sposato testified he entered the car to arrest Bennett, but Bennett sped off, sending Sposato to the pavement.
On Thursday, Sposato asked Vaughn to consider Bennett's aggressive fleeing from several deputies.
"I was looking at him eye-to-eye, and I got my Taser out to Taser him," Sposato told the judge. "But I could not Taser him once he began driving the vehicle."
Testimony showed Bennett fled at a high rate of speed before losing control of his car in a residential yard. When deputies caught up to him, he was seen tossing the bags of marijuana into the woods.
At the scene, deputies recovered 40 bags of marijuana weighing more than 86 grams.
Bennett, of the 900 block of Eighth Court Southwest, said he fled after an unidentified man approached his car, raised his shirt to reveal a concealed handgun, and hurled an unknown object into his car.
"I thought it was a bomb," Bennett testified. "I didn't know if it was a bomb or a gun, I just wanted to get away from it. I didn't know it was marijuana until they brought me to jail and booked me."
Bennett testified he never saw Sposato enter his car, and on Thursday he repeated to the judge he did not see the pursuing deputies' emergency lights.
"It was a mistake of my eyesight, I guess, and I'm paying for it," Bennett said.
Assistant State Attorney Lauren McBride asked Vaughn to take into account Bennett's 14 felony convictions since the mid-1980s, about half of them for drug sales or possession.
Defense attorney Rusty Akins asked Vaughn to impose a sentence of 16 years -one year over the minimum.
"None of his felony convictions indicate Mr. Bennett is a violent person," Akins said. "They do indicate he has a serious drug problem that he has not addressed."
NewsHawk: _qWERTY - 420 Magazine
Source: Press Journal (Vero Beach, FL)
Pubdate: Fri, 06 Oct 2006
Copyright: 2006 The E.W. Scripps Co.
Contact: letters@veropress.com
Website: TCPalm
Circuit Judge Dan L. Vaughn ordered David L. Bennett, 38, to serve 30 years for his conviction by a jury Aug. 15 on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, fleeing and eluding police, and driving with a revoked driver's license.
At Bennett's trial, Indian River County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Sposato testified he saw Bennett sitting in a car outside a business in the 3000 block of 45th Street about 2 a.m. on May 8, 2005.
Sposato testified he shined his flashlight into the car and saw two clear bags filled with marijuana in Bennett's lap. Sposato testified he entered the car to arrest Bennett, but Bennett sped off, sending Sposato to the pavement.
On Thursday, Sposato asked Vaughn to consider Bennett's aggressive fleeing from several deputies.
"I was looking at him eye-to-eye, and I got my Taser out to Taser him," Sposato told the judge. "But I could not Taser him once he began driving the vehicle."
Testimony showed Bennett fled at a high rate of speed before losing control of his car in a residential yard. When deputies caught up to him, he was seen tossing the bags of marijuana into the woods.
At the scene, deputies recovered 40 bags of marijuana weighing more than 86 grams.
Bennett, of the 900 block of Eighth Court Southwest, said he fled after an unidentified man approached his car, raised his shirt to reveal a concealed handgun, and hurled an unknown object into his car.
"I thought it was a bomb," Bennett testified. "I didn't know if it was a bomb or a gun, I just wanted to get away from it. I didn't know it was marijuana until they brought me to jail and booked me."
Bennett testified he never saw Sposato enter his car, and on Thursday he repeated to the judge he did not see the pursuing deputies' emergency lights.
"It was a mistake of my eyesight, I guess, and I'm paying for it," Bennett said.
Assistant State Attorney Lauren McBride asked Vaughn to take into account Bennett's 14 felony convictions since the mid-1980s, about half of them for drug sales or possession.
Defense attorney Rusty Akins asked Vaughn to impose a sentence of 16 years -one year over the minimum.
"None of his felony convictions indicate Mr. Bennett is a violent person," Akins said. "They do indicate he has a serious drug problem that he has not addressed."
NewsHawk: _qWERTY - 420 Magazine
Source: Press Journal (Vero Beach, FL)
Pubdate: Fri, 06 Oct 2006
Copyright: 2006 The E.W. Scripps Co.
Contact: letters@veropress.com
Website: TCPalm
