United States v. Calvin Dayea

Calvin Dayea pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault resulting in serious bodily injury, both charges stemming from an automobile accident he caused while intoxicated. He now appeals his sentence. We vacate his sentence and remand for resentencing.

BACKGROUND

In this case, as in too many others, the common criminal activity of drunken driving ended in tragedy. Early on July 3, 1992, Calvin Dayea began a day of drinking. At 9:00 p.m. that evening, he was driving his pickup truck west on Arizona State Route 260, on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. His truck crossed the center line of the highway and struck an oncoming Ford Taurus, occupied by four adults and two children. One of the occupants, Theresa Campsen, was seriously injured, suffering a broken clavicle, bruised sternum, minor contusions, and an injury to a vertebral disc in her neck. Day-ea’s truck then collided with an oncoming Chevrolet Blazer, occupied by Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) Sergeant David Zesiger. Zesiger died approximately ten minutes after the collision.

Dayea, who claims to have no memory of the accident or of events for some time prior to it, was taken to the…