John Stang can leave the county jail to deliver his message, but he must return to complete his one-year sentence.
By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published April 28, 2004
CLEARWATER - John Stang, who was sentenced in February to a year in jail for a drunken driving accident, wants to warn teenagers of the dangers of drinking and driving.
A judge agreed, but not quite in the way the 20-year-old's family and friends had hoped.
Stang won't be released from jail early to tell his story. Instead, Stang can be escorted out of jail for four hours a week. In the company of sheriff's deputies, he will appear shackled and chained and wearing his orange jail jumpsuit before youth groups, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Brandt Downey ruled at a hearing Monday afternoon.
Stang will make his first appearance Monday at Clearwater High School.
A St. Petersburg High graduate who recently completed studies at Hillsborough Community College, Stang had a perfect driving record until the night of Aug. 16, 2003, when he was involved in an accident on Snell Isle. Days before he was scheduled to leave for Florida State University, he was driving three friends home from a local bar. The car fishtailed out of control and slammed into a wooden utility pole.
Eiseley Tauginas, who was 18 at the time, was thrust through the window and seriously injured when her face hit the pole.
Stang was convicted of driving under the influence with serious bodily injury. In sentencing him on Feb. 19, the judge considered his youth and driving record and chose to reduce the 51-month minimum penalty to one year.
On Monday, attorney Jeff Brown told the court that if Stang were released from jail, he would tell other young people what can happen to those who drink and drive. Such a message delivered from one of their peers, especially at high school graduation time, could save lives, Brown said. Stang was in court but did not talk.
Among those who spoke on Stang's behalf was Dr. Michael Scott Maher, a psychiatrist who evaluated Stang in March. Maher testified that Stang had demonstrated "overwhelming remorse" and said he would stake his reputation that Stang would continue to show remorse.
The Rev. Paul Pierce, a chaplain for the Sheriff's Office, said that Stang has become a trusty - a convict granted special privileges because he is trustworthy - since entering the Pinellas County Jail. Pierce said that in his opinion, Stang will gain no further benefit from being in jail and would be of more service to the community if he were released.
Sherry McBee, recreation director for the city of St. Petersburg, and Nick Grasso, principal at Clearwater High School, both said they would welcome Stang's presentations.
Assistant State Attorney Cathy McKyton, who handled the original case for the state, argued that if Stang were truly interested in reaching young people, he would have begun the program he was proposing in August. She also questioned the impact his early release from an already reduced sentence would have on young people who need to see the consequences of crime.
In delivering his opinion, Downey, the judge, recognized the value of Stang's message for young people.
But he also agreed with McKyton that Stang could have started reaching out to them before he went to jail.
"I can't help but feel the efforts of Mr. Stang since his sentencing are directly proportional to the fact he has to spend the next 10 months of his life incarcerated," Downey said.
Rather than releasing Stang from jail, Downey agreed to allow him four hours a week away from the jail to talk to young people. He also will permit him to spend four hours a week free of the restrictions of house arrest while he completes his probationary period after his release.
After the hearing, Stang's father, Rick, said he had been hoping his son would be set free, but was grateful the judge agreed to let him out of jail for short periods.
"Our aim is to try to get out there and hope that John can somehow help these kids who are getting ready to graduate and tell them, "It's really a sad situation when you drink and drive,' " he said.
