Coming face to face with grief felt by DWI victim’s loved ones
Cheektowaga man given up to 4 years in prison
David Brown came to court Monday to face his punishment for a drunken-driving crash that killed a Clarence man. He also came face to face with the man’s grieving family. And with a sign that told Brown of the damage he caused:
“Our only son. My only brother. My only Daddy. Gone.”
With the family and friends of his victim, Kevin Coffta, tearfully looking on, Brown, 65, was sentenced to up to four years in prison by State Supreme Court Justice Penny M. Wolfgang.
Brown, of Markus Drive in Cheektowaga, pleaded guilty in March to vehicular manslaughter and misdemeanor drunken driving for the April 2, 2008, death of Coffta, 28, of Clarence Center. Coffta was standing outside his flatbed truck on the Niagara Thruway in the Town of Tonawanda at about 5 a. m. and was preparing to tow an abandoned vehicle on the shoulder of the road when
Brown’s southbound sport utility vehicle veered onto the shoulder, sideswiped the abandoned vehicle and struck Coffta, killing him instantly.
Prosecutor Colleen Curtin Gable said the impact of the crash caused Brown’s SUV to flip over several times before it landed on its roof in the median, with the then-drunken Brown suffering only a minor hand cut. Coffta was working for Marty’s Towing Service on Grand Island at the time.
Confronting Coffta’s family members in court, Brown begged for their forgiveness.
“Lord have mercy, I’m deeply sorry for what happened,” he said shortly before he was taken into custody.
Police said Brown had spent the 14 hours prior to the accident at the Seneca Niagara Casino, where Brown said he drank about six glasses of wine. He had been free on $25,000 bail until Monday.
Wolfgang told Brown that such tragedies are often the consequence of the “bad choice” of drinking and driving.
Coffta’s mother, Darlene, addressed the court on behalf of her family. She told the judge that her son was so horribly disfigured in the crash that “we never even gave him one last kiss and hug.”
Accompanied to court by her husband, Joseph, and about two dozen other relatives and friends, Darlene Coffta told Brown that his prison term cannot compare “to the sentence you imposed on our family.” She said that in the end, “God will give you what you deserve.”
“I deeply apologize,” Brown told the victim’s family and friends, saying the fatal accident hurts him “just as much” as it hurts them.
After the sentencing, attorney Christopher J. O’Brien, who represents the Coffta family in a civil suit against Brown, said the Seneca Niagara Casino cannot be sued in this matter because of the sovereign rights of the Seneca Nation.
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