Prison sentence for fatal crash

Eileen and Paul McGurk cut their wedding cake not long before Eileen was killed while visiting Texas.

When Patrick McAteer of Belfast, Northern Ireland took the witness stand Thursday morning in Bastrop County District Court he told jurors that his life “has been turned completely upside down” since being involved in a car crash nearly two and a half years ago on Texas 21.

No longer in possession of a spleen or a left arm, McAteer explained that he now copes with depression and has been forced to relearn simple tasks like opening a bottle or buttoning his shirt.

McAteer also told the court why his best friend from Belfast and fellow victim in the crash, Paul McGurk, did not return to Texas to testify this week in the trial of 59-year-old Susan Moore, the woman charged with causing the accident that fateful day in Sept. 2007 that killed McGurk’s wife Eileen.   

“He is very depressed. He won’t answer the phone and just wants to sit in his apartment and be left alone,” McAteer said in regards to McGurk’s behavior since the wreck.

On Friday, a jury of nine women and three men found Moore guilty of one count of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault in relation to the accident. During the subsequent punishment phase of the trial, the jury handed Moore a sentence of nine years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for causing the death of Eileen McGurk. Moore also received a 10 year probated sentence for the intoxicated assault charge. On Monday, 423^rd District Judge Christopher Duggan will determine formal sentencing.  

Moore’s conviction comes after four days of what was an emotional and detail-intensive trial before Duggan and jurors.  

During her testimony on Thursday, Moore told the jury that although she is not a regular drinker, she did consume one vodka and Sprite drink in a Styrofoam cup before leaving work at Hill’s Café in Austin on Sept. 20, 2007 and returning to Bastrop County. According to Moore’s testimony, she only swerved into the median and lost control of her Dodge Dakota pickup as she tried to avoid a tractor-trailer being pulled by a vehicle to her right.

“I believe I would have done the same thing if I had not had the drink,” Moore said from the stand.

During closing arguments on Friday morning, prosecutors refuted Moore’s account of the wreck as being unsubstantiated by evidence. They also questioned Moore’s claims that she is not a heavy drinker and brought out the fact she was previously convicted of a DWI in Las Vegas in 1985 under her then married name, Susan Trojan.

Phil Hall with the Bastrop County District Attorney’s office told the courtroom that regardless of how much alcohol Moore claimed to have consumed on the day of the accident, there was no disputing her blood-alcohol level tested at 0.18 – a test conducted hours after she lost control of her pickup, crossed the highway median and struck the Expedition carrying the McGurks, McAteer and McAteer’s girlfriend, Sharon Sanders of Nacogdoches as the two couples were on their way to sightsee in San Antonio. Sanders and Paul were badly hurt in the crash but escaped without life-threatening injuries.

“A trip to the Alamo, one of Texas’ most cherished landmarks, became a living nightmare for a man visiting from Belfast, his two close friends and his girlfriend,” said Hall.

Moore’s attorney Neil Pfeiffer closed his arguments saying his client was truly sorry for her actions and would “have to live with that for the rest of her life.” Pfeiffer also made the case that an investigation into any potential causes of the crash outside of alcohol was not conducted as thoroughly or quickly as it should have been. The attorney told jurors that Moore’s account of the accident should not be discounted.    

“There is no testimony about her behavior and nothing from her that indicates what she drank from this white cup caused her to become intoxicated and loose control of normal mental and physical faculties,” Pfeiffer said as he held a 16-oz. Styrofoam cup in the air. 

Lead prosecutor and assistant district attorney Greg Gilleland closed out the argument phase with a strong plea for justice.

“Susan Moore is in denial of her intoxication and only a guilty verdict will bring her out,” Gilleland said.

To emphasize the importance of prosecuting such drunk driving crashes that result in fatalities, Gilleland pulled out his own car keys and dangled them before the jury.

“We want a guilty verdict,” he said. “We can’t do anything to disconnect these (keys) from alcohol unless you find her guilty.”

Following the jury returning a verdict in the punishment phase of the trial at close to 7 p.m. Friday, McAteer gathered with Sanders and prosecutors in the foyer of the courthouse. McAteer said he was “very happy” with the outcome and praised the work of Gilleland and the rest of the prosecution team. A short-on-words McAteer added that he was on his way to relay the news to Paul McGurk back in Belfast. “I am still trying to take it in,” he said. 

While also noting that she was satisfied with the sentence, Sanders emphasized that the burden of the crash will never completely go away.

“There is some closure,” Sanders said. “There will never have complete closure though.”

Bastrop County District Attorney Brian Goertz reiterated that Moore’s case is a prime example of the severe consequences that come with drinking and driving.

“If you drink and drive in Bastrop County and hurt or kill someone you may want to rethink what you are doing,” Goertz said.