Sentence issued in fatal accident
By Jennifer Harr Herald-Standard
In accordance with a family’s request to “temper justice with mercy,” the Uniontown man responsible for the October 2005 death of local radio personality John “Jack” McMullen will serve time on house arrest and probation, and will make monthly payments to McMullen’s widow for the rest of her life.
Brandon Doyle, 21, came to court with his attorney Wednesday morning ready to ask that the matter be continued, but a letter from McMullen’s son, California resident John A. McMullen II changed his mind.
In the letter, the lone child of McMullen and his wife, Carolyn, said that his family realized Doyle did not intend to kill his father, but that his actions were negligent. McMullen noted that prison wasn’t always the best place for punishment, and said in the letter that people can come out of confinement worse than when they went in because of “scarring abuse.”
“He will probably become another human casualty,” District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon read from the letter.
McMullen wrote that he “wish(ed) to temper justice with mercy,” Vernon said.
And while a punishment of supervised probation and house arrest alone would not be sufficient, McMullen suggested coupling that with a monthly payment to his mother, Caroyln, would be an appropriate remedy.
McMullen wrote that his father’s death left his mother without the $450 each month that he made, which was needed financial support.
He suggested that Judge Steve P. Leskinen additionally sentence Doyle to pay his mother $450 per month, or a different amount that corresponds to his earning capacity. McMullen asked that the payments go on for the rest of his mother’s life.
Vernon said the family hoped that writing that check out each month would remind Doyle of what he had done.
After taking several hours to mull the contents of the letter, Doyle, through his attorney, Patrick McDaniel, accepted its terms and Doyle offered a heartfelt apology to McMullen’s family.
“I will never forget what I did for the rest of my life,” he said. “No matter how much I apologize, I can’t change what I did, but I’m very sorry for what I’ve done.”
Doyle, of 21 Peary St. hit and killed McMullen while delivering a pizza on Oct. 7, 2005. Doyle did not have a license at the time, and fled the scene.
McMullen, 85, died Oct. 19, 2005, in Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va. He had fractured and broken bones in his legs, arms, shin and hip, as well as a broken collarbone and cuts on his head, police said.
Police said Doyle struck McMullen while he was walking across West Main Street near the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 47 in downtown Uniontown.
At the time, Doyle told police he was reading a delivery slip while delivering pizza for Papa John’s Pizza when he looked up at the road and saw a man in front of his car, but could not stop before hitting him.
He parked nearby, walked to the scene, called 9-1-1 and left, police said.
In June, Doyle entered a general guilty plea to homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death while not licensed, leaving the scene of the accident another other related charges. The general plea means that there was no pre-arranged sentence with prosecutors, and Leskinen had sole discretion in the matter.
Leskinen sentenced Doyle to a total of two years’ intermediate punishment, with the first year served on house arrest. After that time is served, he will be subject to 2 years, 11 months, 29 days of probation. The total time is one day shy of five years, so that county, instead of state, probation officers will supervise the case.
Noting that it was unusual to order restitution payments that will go on for the duration of Carolyn McMullen’s life, Leskinen ordered Doyle to make monthly payments to her “in accordance with his financial means.” He did not assign a specific amount of money to Doyle, who is working and going to college, but said he expected him to make an earnest effort to pay Carolyn McMullen.
“We will monitor the extent to which you live up to the words you’ve spoken … and the reconciliatory effort offered to you by (McMullen’s family),” Leskinen said.
If Doyle does not comply with the terms of his sentence, he could face 14 years behind bars.
The jurist also lauded McMullen’s family for their “forward thinking and compassionate approach to the case.”
McMullen worked as a disc jockey and newsman for WMBS Radio in Uniontown and worked in radio in Florida and on the West Coast. He served in World War II. At one time, McMullen was the executive director of the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority and head of the former Uniontown Bureau of Community Development.