8 Nov 2013
In July of last year, Madeline Rackley was drinking at an Austin bar known as Lustre Pearl. She was with two of her friends, another woman and a man, Ryan Whittington. When they left the bar prior to 2:00 a.m., the three got into Rackley’s car, with Rackley driving, the other woman in the front passenger seat, and Whittington in the back.
The car eventually drive onto a boat ramp near East Avenue and I-35. It continued along the ramp until it actually entered Lady Bird Lake. Both Rackley and the female passenger found a way to exit the vehicle, but Whittington did not, and he died as a result. The trial of the criminal case, in which Rackley was charged with intoxication manslaughter, was scheduled to begin in January. But a plea agreement was reached this week which called for a custodial sentence of only ten days in jail.
The reason we are reporting on this story has to do with what might appear to be a very lenient plea bargain, even though Rackley will also be on probation for ten years and be required to perform community service. After all, she was charged with intoxication manslaughter, which is a second degree felony. As such, you could expect that it would ordinarily carry of sentence of between two years and twenty years in prison.
A possible explanation for the light sentence can be gleaned by reading between the lines. At the sentencing, the father of the man fatally injured in the crash asked the judge to impose the most lenient possible sentence. At the same time, Whittington’s family is pursuing a civil suit against Lustre Pearl for damages based upon “overserving” the three friends. In addition, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has ordered the bar to pay $40,000 in fines, among other sanctions, based upon the same issue.
This is apparently one case where the focus is not on the person who drove drunk. Rather, the anger seems to be directed primarily, if not exclusively, on the conduct of the bar and its employees, who are being seen as helping (and some might say causing) the group to get drunk.
Law Office of David D. White, PLLC
1205 Rio Grande Street
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 369-3737