Man sentenced to prison for death of unborn child
Sentenced Wednesday to one to two years in a state prison for causing the death of an unborn child, a Point Marion man said he was unsure if he will appeal the ruling. Michael Brian Diehl, 26, of 22 Broadway St. pleaded guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter in the Aug. 24, 2005 death of Carol J. Rafail’s baby. At the time of the accident, Rafail was 8 1/2 months pregnant.
State police alleged that Diehl was going from 60 to 65 mph in a 45 mph zone along Route 119 in Springfield Township when his vehicle collided with Rafail’s. The accident occurred about two tenths of a mile south of Gans Road at 7:34 a.m., said state police.
Before sentence was imposed, Diehl apologized to Rafail and her family.
“I’m sorry for their loss,” he said. “I had no intention of it every happening. I just want them to know I’m sorry, and I regret it happened.”
After Fayette County Judge Steve P. Leskinen questioned Diehl about his post-sentence rights, Diehl asked the judge if he could say something, and then said that he took the one to two year plea because he was told he would be sentenced to 2 1/2 to 5 years in prison if he did not.
Leskinen, who had already imposed the one-to-two year sentence, said that no one could tell Diehl for sure what the sentence would be if he were sentenced as the result of a general plea or a conviction at trial.
The jurist also told Diehl that he had the option of filing a post-sentence motion to withdraw the plea. Leskinen said Diehl had 10 days to do so.
After conversing with his attorney, deputy public defender Susan Ritz Harper, Diehl said that he was still unsure if he would appeal.
A witness to the crash testified at a previous hearing that she saw Diehl’s car approach hers from behind. The woman testified Diehl passed her and then hit Rafail head-on. Both Rafail and Diehl were taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., following the accident, and Rafail was placed in the intensive care unit.
The Monongalia County, W.Va. medical examiner found that the child died from placental abruption due to the trauma of the accident.
A part of his sentence, Diehl was ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution to Rafail and $5,000 to Geico.