Judge Heeds Leniency Pleas From Victims : Driver in Van Collision Sentenced to Probation

Bobby Ray and Michelene Dixon climbed into their white Corvette 19 months ago to take a ride they’d been planning for years. They were headed to Green Valley, where they had just purchased their first house.

They never got there.

On a straight stretch of highway northwest of Santa Clarita, Dixon’s car, traveling an estimated 70 m.p.h., tried to pass a camper and crashed head-on into a van carrying 10 people, killing his wife and seriously injuring himself and nine others. Dixon was pulled from the burning sports car by a prison road crew working nearby.

Dixon, who suffered third-degree burns on 40% of his body, was charged with vehicular manslaughter. He pleaded no contest to the charge in May and faced up to six years in prison when he appeared in court for sentencing Thursday.

But Dixon, 27, had support from an unexpected quarter--the driver of the van and his wife, who had waged a campaign to keep Dixon out of prison. San Fernando Superior Court Judge Meredith Taylor heard their requests for leniency and sentenced Dixon to four years probation and ordered him to perform 500 hours of community service.

“Each of the victims has suffered very serious injuries. I am very impressed that none of these people seek vengeance,” Taylor said. “Mr. Dixon, a great tragedy has befallen you and everyone connected with this. You’re going to be reading from the book of grief for the rest of your life. I think that the punishment you have given yourself is greater than anything the court could impose.”

Among those in the court were Bill and Maureen Palm, who had been taking their four children and another family in their van to a pizza parlor for dinner. They said Dixon--who lost an ear, a toe, and most of the use of his right arm--has suffered enough.

“I feel that to send a man like Dixon to prison would be an extreme injustice,” Maureen Palm wrote to a probation officer. “It would serve no purpose except possibly to show how unfair the ‘justice’ system can be.”

Two rows in the courtroom were filled with members of the Palm family and other Dixon supporters. After the sentencing, several people cried with relief. Dixon, half his face disfigured from a burn, sat quietly.

“It’s what I was hoping for,” Dixon said later. “I’m very thankful for the support I’ve gotten, for all these people coming out and helping me.”

In an unusual move, both Dixon’s attorney, Barbara St. Ours, and Deputy Dist. Atty. Norman Montrose argued against a prison term for Dixon.

“There doesn’t seem to be anybody who is saying put Mr. Dixon in jail,” Montrose said.

“The defendant is a pathetic man at this particular point in his life . . . but he was playing a game of chicken with the other cars,” Montrose said. “He was engaged in outrageous conduct, outrageous in every shape and form, even though he didn’t mean to kill his wife or wound anyone. There has got to be some kind of accountability to the system.”

Montrose had been seeking a five-year suspension of Dixon’s driver license.

‘Negligent Driving’

The accident occurred just before 6 p.m. on Nov. 14, 1986, on San Francisquito Canyon Road. California Highway Patrol officers determined that Dixon was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and that “negligent driving” caused the accident.

St. Ours said the accident was caused by a dip in the road that put oncoming traffic momentarily out of a driver’s view.

The Palm family has incurred more than $225,000 worth of medical bills. Wesley, 4, and Lindsey, 2, suffered broken legs. Justin, 7, and Christopher, 9, had skull fractures. Also injured were Laura Di Paola and her two children, Rachel, 3 and Caleb, six months. Another passenger, Leslie Quiggle received minor injuries. Dixon, who has been receiving skin-graft treatments and counseling other burn victims, hopes to put his life back together, St. Ours said. Once a top-flight Ford mechanic, Dixon wants to return to that line of work. Just recently, after struggling painfully with his one good arm, he completed a tuneup in about eight hours, she said.

Said St. Ours: “He’s doing his best to get on with his life, while living in constant pain.”