Ferrer Sentenced to 14 Years in EMT's Death

Francisco Ferrer, a 34-year-old Dallas resident who caused the death of a Grady Hospital EMT in March 2012, was sentenced to a term of 16 years with the first 14 years to be served in prison. Following his release from prison, Ferrer will be required to serve two years on probation.

Chief Superior Court Judge Robert J. James handed down the sentence after presiding over a hearing that lasted nearly two hours. The sentence was imposed after Ferrer entered a non-negotiated plea to two counts each of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence and one count of following too closely. 

While laying out the facts of the case to the court, Assistant District Attorney Ryan Leonard described the victim, Jason Strickland.

Strickland, a father of four children, was working as an EMT at Grady Hospital. He had been an EMT for three years. He was also a volunteer fire fighter and served as Fire Chief for Polk County during the time of the incident on March 25, 2012.

On that night, Strickland was coming home from work on his Harley Davidson motorcycle, westbound on I-20. At approximately 5 a.m., thirty minutes after leaving work, Strickland was killed in a crash prior to the Lee Road exit.

Ferrer, the man who caused Strickland’s death, had been coming from Fulton  Industrial Boulevard where he had left a night of partying. According to Leonard, the defendant had been at Fannies Strip Club. Authorities retrieved bank receipts showing Ferrer had withdrawn $500 prior to going to Strip Club. When Ferrer was taken into custody, he had only $21 on his person.

A bartender at the strip club said he was a regular guest at Fannies, coming to the strip club one to two times a week. On the night in question, Ferrer left Fannies between 3:50 and 4 a.m. The witness said he was pretty tipsy when he left, but that  he had a cousin with him who was supposed to be his designated driver. Leonard told the Court that the witness estimated Ferrer bought three rounds of Jagermeister shots as well as five individual liquor shots of Jager for himself. Ferrer, according to the witness, was sharing shots with dancers.

In an interview with authorities, the defendant, who was aware of the statistics for fatalities along the interstate between Thornton Road and Mirror Lake, indicated he normally did not take I-20 home. On this night, he said, it was the best way for him to get home to his residence in Dallas.

After describing the facts of the case, Leonard played three 911 calls. Two were from an eye witness from the accident while one call was from Ferrer, who admitted during the call to rear-ending the victim.

Leonard also pointed out the defendant’s blood alcohol level (BAC). The BAC came back at .125. Blood was drawn at 6:45 a.m.—1 hour and 45 minutes after the crash occurred. Authorities believe Ferrer’s blood alcohol content level at the time of the crash was between .125 and .169. The average of those two blood alcohol content levels, .151, is equivalent to five-and-half drinks at 80 proof. Strickland’s blood was cleared on any drugs or alcohol.

Tire marks at the scene show Ferrer drove a distance of 518 feet after colliding with the victim’s motorcycle. The distance, according to Leonard, shows Ferrer was not actively braking or trying to pull over. All the experts agreed Ferrer did not slam on his breaks after the collision occurred. A typical stopping distance is 100 feet for a car driving 60 mph.

Family and friends, including Strickland’s father, mother and wife, took turns addressing the court, the common conscious being for the court to hold Ferrer accountable.

The defendant’s attorney, Paul White argued for the court to impose the minimum time in custody, which is three years in prison, including the nine months Ferrer has already served in prison. He also apologized to the victim’s family and the court for prolonging the case since the March 25, 2012 incident. According to White, the BAC had no bearing on causing the crash. He also asked the court to consider Ferrer’s clean criminal history.

After the defense’s presentation, Leonard responded, saying:

"This case has gone on for over a year-and-a-half. It’s been on 10 trial calendars. Those are 10 trial calendars that the family has gotten notice of, all the witnesses have gotten notice of…The pain inflicted upon them by the delays of this case—none of which are attributed to the State—are due to the defense…This is Mr. Ferrer’s case.

"This is Mr. Ferrer’s life," continued Leonard. "He is the one who chose to drink at a strip club, he’s the one who chose to drive on I-20, and he’s the one that caused the death of Mr. Strickland. So the case goes on for a year-and-a-half. It’s Mr. Ferrer’s decision to do that; it’s not Mr. White’s. Mr. Ferrer knows what happened—he was there. If he wanted to come in from day one and throw himself on the mercy of this court, that was his right. There was no one standing in his way to stop him from doing that."

And with that, Leonard asked the court to impose a sentence in the range of 12 to 16 years to serve in custody.