BOISE, Idaho — A 52-year-old man was sentenced to 20 days of jail and two years of supervised probation for misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.
John R. Bowden appeared at the Ada County Courthouse Monday for a change of plea and sentencing hearing. Bowden pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge, which was a result of a June 11, 2019 fatal crash in Eagle, Idaho.
The crash happened when Bowden was driving east on State Street and was turning north on Eagle Road with a yellow blinking arrow. Bowden failed to yield to oncoming traffic and hit a vehicle driven by 64-year-old Steven Hatcher, who died at the scene of the crash.
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The Ada County Prosecutor’s Office asked for a sentence of 90 days in jail, two years of supervised probation and a five-year license suspension. Ada County Magistrate Judge David D. Manweiler ordered Mr. Bowden to serve 20 days of jail time, which will be served as 10 days of sheriff inmate labor duty and 100 hours of public service time as well as two years of supervised probation. The Judge also ordered his license be suspended for two years.
Judge Manweiler gave Bowden a withheld judgment, meaning if he successfully completes his sentence he can seek the dismissal of his case.
“It’s clear to this court that it was your driving that caused the death of Steven Hatcher,” Judge Manweiler said. “The benefit of arriving a few seconds earlier resulted in the violent death of someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s uncle, someone’s coworker and someone’s friend.”
