Ex-Prosecutor Gets 6 Years for Driving Drunk, Killing Woman

A former deputy district attorney was sentenced Thursday to six years in state prison in connection with a drunk-driving crash in Valley Center last fall that killed an Escondido schoolteacher.

In rejecting a defense attorney’s plea for probation, Municipal Judge Jesus Rodriguez said that Charles Van Dusen had a “longstanding alcohol problem” and had demonstrated “an unwillingness to control or correct” it.

Rodriguez noted that not even the near-death of Van Dusen’s sister, who was struck and left disabled by a drunk driver, had moved Van Dusen to seek treatment for alcoholism.

Taken Into Custody

“All I can say is it took the death of a responsible, productive member of society for you, Mr. Van Dusen, to finally convince yourself that you have an alcohol problem,” said Rodriguez, who also imposed a fine of $350.

Van Dusen, 37, was immediately taken into custody. Deputy Atty. Gen. Jeffrey Koch, who handled the case for the San Diego County district attorney’s office because of a possible conflict of interest, said Van Dusen will be eligible for parole in three years.

A former deputy district attorney in Vista who prosecuted many drunk-driving cases during his career, Van Dusen pleaded guilty in December to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the death of Carol Benson.

Benson, 45, was driving home for lunch on Cole Grade Road in Valley Center on Sept. 2 when Van Dusen, traveling at an estimated 90 m.p.h. in his Corvette, struck her car head-on. Benson died instantly of massive injuries. Van Dusen received minor injuries and his wife, Susan, a passenger in the car, was not hurt.

Van Dusen, who was grieving over his wife’s miscarriage earlier in the week, had been drinking until 4:30 a.m. the day of the crash, Koch said. The former prosecutor’s blood alcohol level measured 0.20. A level of 0.10 means a person is legally intoxicated.

Thursday’s sentencing took place in a courtroom overflowing with relatives and friends of both Benson and Van Dusen. Supporters of the San Diego County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, who, ironically had worked with Van Dusen on several of his drunk-driving prosecutions in North County, also were present.

‘Not Going to Help’

Defense attorney Richard Mills requested that the judge sentence his client to probation, arguing that the community “could get a lot of good use” out of Van Dusen if he were required to volunteer his time and legal skills.

“I’d submit that (a prison term) is not going to help the victim’s family, it’s not going to help society, it’s not going to help anyone,” said Mills, who noted that Van Dusen had no previous criminal record, is remorseful and has decided to deal with his drinking problem.

Mills also argued that Van Dusen’s status in the community--and the sympathetic type of person who died in the crash--had unfairly combined to bring extra pressure on the judge to incarcerate him.

“If Mr. Van Dusen had hit a grove worker from Nicaragua, we wouldn’t be talking about a state prison sentence in this case,” Mills argued.

Implying that the accident might not have happened if counseling or other help had been available to Van Dusen, Mills also chided the district attorney’s office and the county for having no alcohol treatment programs for employees.

But Koch, in arguing that Van Dusen be sentenced to the maximum term of 10 years, countered that Van Dusen had ignored previous opportunities to get help with his alcohol problem.

Threatened to Leave Him

When Van Dusen’s former wife threatened to leave him unless he quit drinking, he enrolled in a residential treatment program in Minnesota, Koch said. But, after 30 days of care, Van Dusen rejected recommendations that he follow up with six months of outpatient treatment and resumed drinking, Koch said. His wife later left him and obtained custody of their two children, the prosecutor said.

Koch also noted that Van Dusen was carrying an unlicensed, fullyloaded, semiautomatic revolver in his car the day of the crash. Before authorities arrived, he took the gun out of the car and placed it under a tree, Koch said. (Two weapons-related charges were dropped when Van Dusen entered his guilty plea.)

Koch added that Van Dusen drank several orange sodas at the scene of the crash, apparently in an attempt to disguise alcohol on his breath.

“Based on Mr. Van Dusen’s background, for some reason he just doesn’t feel that society’s laws apply to him,” Koch said.

Before Rodriguez pronounced the sentence, Benson’s father, Denton Skiles, read a statement aloud in court. Skiles described his daughter as a popular teacher and a courageous woman who had raised three children on her own after an early marriage failed.

“This was no accident,” Skiles said in a wavering voice, dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief. “This was an act perpetrated by a mature adult who, because of years of experience, knew the effect of alcohol on the body.”

‘Half His Life Left’

Urging Rodriguez to impose the maximum term, Skiles said that, although Van Dusen will have “half his life left to live” when released, “Carol was given the death sentence, and her family has been given the life sentence.”

Rodriguez, in brief remarks, said Van Dusen was a “poor candidate for probation.” The judge noted that Van Dusen continued to drink for two months after Benson’s death.

After the hearing, Benson’s sister, Patty Hodges, said she hoped the courts “are finally getting serious about the drunk-driving problem, because this is too big a price to pay.”

Benson’s son, Michael, who attended the sentencing with one of his twin sisters, Laura, said he was “satisfied” with the prison sentence but had hoped for the maximum term.

“This guy has had plenty of time to try to dry out on his own, and hasn’t,” said Benson, 25. “He even continued drinking after my mom died.”

Van Dusen’s brother, Larry, said his family “feels terrible about this tragedy and what it’s done to the victim’s relatives. My brother is very remorseful. I feel bad that he’s going to prison, but we in no way can justify what has happened.”