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41 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, March 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend February 26, 2004 DUII driver pleads guilty to assault for head-on crash By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Her longtime boyfriend in a vegetative state, a Medford woman will spend nearly six years in prison for causing the drunken driving crash that nearly killed him. Deborah Gail Gates, 42, of the 1700 block of Meadows Lane, pleaded guilty in Jackson County Circuit Court Wednesday to charges of second- and fourth-degree assault, driving under the influence of intoxicants and six counts of reckless endangering. Unable to face her former boyfriend, 43-year-old Mark Phillip Orlow, and his family, Gates called off her trial after it had already begun Wednesday and decided to plead guilty. Following attorneys’ recommendations, Circuit Court Judge Bill Purdy ordered Gates to spend five years and 10 months in prison, the minimum sentence under Oregon’s mandatory sentencing law. Her driver’s license will be suspended for eight years after her release. Orlow’s family members and other victims told Purdy that they wanted a stiffer sentence and an indefinite suspension of Gates’ license. Gates has been convicted twice previously of DUII. Advertisement "She knows the risk with getting drunk and getting behind the wheel," prosecutor Karen Loomis told the court. After drinking at Medford’s Time Out sports bar the evening of Jan. 16, 2003, Gates and Orlow took Gates’ grown daughter’s car for a spin. Thinking they had just gone out to the car for cigarettes, Gates’ daughter found her car missing from the bar. The daughter and her boyfriend decided to go looking for her mother and ended up following an ambulance from the Barnett Road Interstate 5 interchange to a horrific crash scene not far from the Suncrest rest area near Talent, Loomis said. Emergency workers spent an extended amount of time trying to free Gates and Orlow from the crushed Dodge Neon, which crashed head-on into a semi truck while driving the wrong way in the southbound freeway lanes, Loomis said. The crash left Orlow in a coma for several weeks with a skull fracture and a blood clot in his brain. While his eyes are open, Orlow is only marginally aware of his surroundings, doctors said. He still is unable to move his arms or legs and cannot speak. The chances of any significant improvement are not likely, doctors said. "She’s went and turned my son into a vegetable. ... It’s not fair," Orlow’s father, William Orlow of White City, told the court. Also injured, the truck driver, Raymond Lee Scudder II, of Gold Hill, suffers from back pain and has not been able to resume his work, Loomis said. Other drivers who narrowly missed Gates’ speeding vehicle that night told the court of their emotional scars. "I’ve had nightmares for weeks because of the accident," said 39-year-old Jaci Goo of Washington, who was scheduled to testify in the trial. Goo told of making a "miraculous" swerving maneuver that carried her car — transporting her two college-age sons — out of the path of the speeding Neon. "If she had hit me, we would not be sitting here," Goo said. "We would be dead." Loomis charged Gates with recklessly endangering Goo, her sons and several other motorists who stopped and talked to police at the crash scene. As Gates cried, her attorney, Lisa Greif, read a letter of apology that Gates had written to the court, Orlow and his family. "If I could, I would commit myself to taking care of him for the rest of his life," she wrote. Purdy told Gates that it was never too late to change her life and advised her to take advantage of special programs in prison. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times