A Juneau man accused of leading police on a high-speed chase through the Mendenhall Valley in May has entered into a plea agreement that calls for a five-year, one-month prison sentence.
Devin W. Moorhouse, 27, appeared in Juneau Superior Court Monday and pleaded guilty to three of the seven charges against him.
Prosecutors said Moorhouse’s blood alcohol content was 0.327 when he barreled through several red lights, evaded police and grazed a police vehicle during the May 8 chase. Moorhouse was arrested after he crashed his truck into a tree in a front yard of a residential neighborhood.
District Attorney David Brower said Moorhouse ignored a passenger’s pleas to stop during the incident, which police said lasted less than 10 minutes. The passenger, Corena Willard, 33, injured her knee in the crash and had to be transported by ambulance to the hospital, Brower said.
Moorhouse was originally facing two felony counts for failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer, one felony count for assault for placing Willard in fear of imminent serious physical injury and three other misdemeanors for driving under the influence, driving with a canceled, suspended or revoked license and criminal mischief.
On Monday, he pleaded guilty to one of the felony counts for failing to stop and two misdemeanor counts for assault and drunken driving. The remaining charges were dismissed.
The plea deal calls for Moorhouse to serve four years for the felony failure to stop, one year for the assault and six months with five months suspended for driving under the influence.
The deal also requires Moorhouse to pay restitution for the damaged police vehicle and tree.
Judge Philip Pallenberg said he would decide whether to accept the plea deal at a sentencing hearing, which was scheduled for mid-November.
Brower noted in court that Moorhouse had two prior felony convictions, one of which was for a 2004 burglary and the other for a probation violation.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (7)
Add commentCan't see his face...
...but we can see his bar code.
And his true colors.
And his true colors. Flippin' loser.
So....
So basically he will be out of jail in a year or two.
wow -
.327...........he should be dead. That's a lot of alcohol.
In many other states he would
In many other states he would be looking at life without parole
Hope he can
use this experience to get free of alcohol dependency, and turn his life around once he gets out. He'll be in for at least 3.4 years if he keeps his good time. He deserves his judgment, but for those heavy-handed out there, remember that a "winner" can be made from what was once a loser... all ya gotta do is change your mind...and there's the rub: it's up to each of us to make the change in our own life.
We can only hope....
Seems like a reasonable sentence, thanks to the judge. Yes, he will likely be out early if he keeps his nose clean. He will have ample time to evaluate what has happened and make the necessary changes to his behavior. I hope that he considers just how lucky he really was and did not end up killing an innocent bystander.
If he fails to make the necessary changes he will be back.