By Rupert Howell
Telling the accused that the system had failed him, Circuit Judge Smith Murphey, during Wednesday afternoon’s sentencing hearing at Batesville Courthouse, sentenced Sam Wray to 25 years in prison with five of those years in supervised probation and three years unsupervised.

Wray was officially charged with Aggravated DUI involving an accident June 23, 2015 that took the life of Joy Henry. But it was an additional DUI later that put the need for sentencing in higher priority.

Wray could have been looking at four felony DUI’s that may have resulted in a life sentence without parole, Murphey reminded him while noting that an agreement along Wray’s legal path allowed an earlier DUI offense to be tried as a DUI-first instead of DUI-second and worked to keep him out of a long-term prison sentence and possible long-term rehabilitation.

Judge Murphey chastised prosecutors for having incomplete information on Wray’s previous DUI offenses and called a recess until a complete record could be obtained. Wray told Murphey he could not remember dates and years of some earlier offenses.

Assistant District Attorney Jay Hale who represented the state in the hearing said after the recess that one of Wray’s previous offenses had not been entered into the centralized crime information center and another DUI charge was dismissed after the issuing state trooper failed to show up for the court case.

Attorney Tom Womble representing Wray told the court in the hearing’s beginning, “We are not here making excuses or arguing facts.”

Womble would later call an alcohol and narcotics therapist, Wray family members and Wray himself to the witness stand.

The State witnesses included Batesville Police Sergeant Will Parrish and parents of the deceased, Randy and Chris Mills.

Parrish told the court that he arrested Wray during a traffic stop, but had let him go  before stating, “I decided to give him a break hopefully to help him not to hinder him.”

That last stop came approximately 10 months after the DUI accident that killed Henry.

Henry’s mother said after she learned of Wray’s last arrest it was the first night of good sleep she had in 10 months knowing that he would no longer endanger others.

Both she and her husband called for the maximum 25 year sentence stating with the mother stating, “I know they will offer you rehabilitation. You have to realize it’s past time and you’re long overdue.”

Wray’s sister recalled that a number of family members had addictions and said of her brother, “He can be productive again, but he has to be rehabilitated. The right rehabilitation,” while explaining the 30-day programs with no required follow-up would not work.

The Wray family sought a five-to-10 year sentence opposed to the maximum 25-year sentence requested by the victim’s family.

But Wray’s father, Gary Wray told the court that the two groups sitting on either side of the courtroom, “Are family,” sharing a grandchild between them.

Witnesses for the victim cast no hate on Wray, only on his decisions and actions while Wray’s father told the court, “He is a sick man. . . He is sober now but not well. I ask that he get punished for his crime, but after that, give him help with threatened jail time if he doesn’t cooperate.”

The elder Wray tried to take responsibility as an “enabler” to his son’s problems, a responsibility that Judge Murphey said he did not deserve to put on himself and who later said, “If the system had worked, you (Sam) would have faced two different felony DUI convictions and been awarded long-term rehab and sentencing.”
Wray was also ordered to repay $15,405 in funeral expenses to the children of Henry in monthly installments once released from incarceration.

Charges and/or pleas of convictions from The Panolian files
8/3/10—Sammuel A. Wray, 11466 Hwy. 51, Courtland, was arrested and charged with driving while license suspended (improper consent). The case will be heard in Justice Court.

9/20/11—Samuel A. Wray, 11466 Hwy. 51, Courtland, was arrested and charged with DUI-second, speeding and reckless driving. The case will be heard in Justice Court.

11/27/12— Samuel Adam Wray, 11466 Hwy. 51, Courtland, was arrested and charged with DUI-second and open container. The case will be heard in Batesville Municipal Court.

2/1/13 Samuel Wray, 11466 Hwy. 51, Courtland, had an open container charge dismissed after a plea agreement to amend a DUI-second charge to  DUI-first.

5/10/13—Samuel Wray, 11466 Hwy. 51, Courtland, was represented by attorney Tom Womble for DUI-second and driving while license suspended.

He entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to 10 days in jail along with a fine of $1,933. A charge of improper equipment was dismissed.

6/25/15 “A 2015 Cam-Am four wheeler driven by Samuel Wray, 28, of Courtland was traveling north in the southbound lane of US 51 when he traveled off the roadway overcorrected and flipped the four wheeler,” according to the news release.