By KENNETH HART - The Independent
GREENUP — A Greenup County man whose trial in his wife’s alcohol-related traffic death ended with a hung jury in January will be retried, but apparently not on a murder charge.
Greenup Commonwealth’s Attorney Clifford Duvall has filed a motion to amend the charge against William E. Gullett from murder to second-degree manslaughter.
The latter charge is a Class C felony that carries a prison sentence of five to 10 years. Murder carries a sentence of 20 years to life.
At a brief hearing on Thursday in Greenup Circuit Court, Gullett’s attorney, Michael Curtis, told Judge Bob Conley there had been “no resolution” in his client’s case.
Curtis requested that Conley set a date for a pre-trial conference, “and if it’s not resolved by then, we’ll set a trial date.”
Conley scheduled the pre-trial for April 22.
Gullett, 40, of South Shore, who’s free on bond, was indicted for murder in a Jan. 10, 2009, wreck on U.S. 23 near McKell Elementary School that claimed the life of his wife, Vivian Gullett, 45. Prosecutors maintained Gullett wantonly caused his wife’s death by getting behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol.
His six-day trial ended Jan. 14 when jurors gave up on trying to reach a verdict after deliberating for about 31/2 hours. The deadlock forced Conley to declare a mistrial.
In addition to murder, jurors were given the option of finding Gullett guilty of second-degree manslaughter or reckless homicide.
Tests performed on a blood sample taken from William Gullett nearly two hours after the crash at Southern Ohio Medical Center showed his blood-alcohol level was .12. The level at which a person is legally presumed drunk in Kentucky is .08.
However, Curtis argued it was Vivian Gullett who caused the wreck by reaching out from the passenger’s seat and grabbing the steering wheel of the couple’s Jeep Grand Cherokee, causing the vehicle to veer right and slam into a utility pole.
Gullett acknowledged he’d drunk several beers prior to the wreck, but told jurors he wasn’t impaired.
The couple were returning home from a night out in Portsmouth when the wreck occurred. Curtis said Vivian Gullett had been distraught and depressed about her oldest daughter, Ashley Carnahan, being sent to prison, and that drinking exacerbated those feelings.
