By Julie Manganis
Staff writer
September 26, 2008 05:40 am SALEM — A Danvers teen who crashed head-on into an elderly Peabody woman, killing her, as he drove to a methadone clinic last year will serve 15 months in jail after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide yesterday. Prosecutors had sought a full 21âÑ2-year jail term, the maximum allowed for misdemeanor vehicular homicide, for Buck Bishop, 19. They said Bishop had already shown disregard for court orders when he violated the terms of his release in the case by testing positive for drugs and missing a meeting with his probation officer last spring. Those violations led to Bishop's being held without bail since then. Yesterday, Bishop admitted that he crossed the center line on Route 1 near the Topsfield-Danvers line back on Nov. 16, 2007. Bishop struck two cars, leaving a Boston-area couple injured and 73-year-old Joyce Oliver dead. Matthew Schlosser, 25, of Cambridge and his passenger, Heather Rahhal, 31, of Dorchester, were in the other car that was struck. Bishop, who also suffered minor injuries, told police he was on his way to a methadone clinic in his 1999 Volvo when he blacked out at the wheel. He told police he didn't recall anything about the accident, according to a police report. Police called in a drug recognition expert who concluded that Bishop was not under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash, although he admitted to using cocaine two days earlier, according to the police report. Members of Oliver's family appeared in court yesterday, the second time they had been told to appear for a possible change of plea in the case. During an hourlong hearing, members of her family recalled the Peabody woman in victim impact statements. After the crash, her daughter Kathy Dennis-Prestia recalled how her mother loved hosting the family's annual Thanksgiving dinner, but that she had finally agreed to pass the tradition to her daughters. She would not live to enjoy her first holiday dinner as a guest. Oliver also had a successful career in banking, rising to the position of vice president and assistant branch manager at the Warren Five Cents Savings Bank in Peabody. And she was also active in her church, her daughter recalled shortly after her mother's death. In July, Bishop balked at a proposed plea after learning he would have to serve jail time, and the case was scheduled for trial next week. Judge Robert Cornetta went along with a request by Bishop's lawyer, however, to impose no more than 15 months behind bars. Cornetta sentenced Bishop to 21âÑ2 years in jail but suspended half of the time. Bishop will have the balance of the suspended sentence hanging over his head for 10 years while he is on probation and will lose his license for 15 years. Under the terms of the sentence, Bishop was given credit for the 111 days he's already spent in custody. That means he could be eligible for parole in four months.
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