Record Gets Only 2 Years For DWI Causing Death

A former deputy prosecutor for Marion Co. Carl Brizzi will serve only two years in prison for drinking himself into a stupor at Brad's Brass Flamingo strip club on the City's south side and slamming his BMW into 46-year-old Jimmy Cash's pick-up truck, splitting it in two parts and killing the deaf father and husband. Although the prosecutor's office dismissed the 29-year-old lawyer, Terry Record, from its office prior to his DWI killing after he lied about an earlier hit-and-run accident, the prosecutor's office never pursued criminal charges against him for that or another alleged hit-and-run accident in which he stood accused of striking a pedestrian downtown. In fact, his office helped the attorney get a state job as an attorney with the Department of Health where he was employed at the time he killed Cash. The Star's Jon Murray reports on the outrageous sentence handed down today by an unelected Pro Tempore Judge, Mark Jones:

A judge sentenced a former state attorney to two years in prison today for driving drunk and causing a fatal wreck.

A special prosecutor asked for the maximum eight years in prison, but Terry J. Record, 29, instead received the advisory four-year sentence with half suspended.

Marion Superior Court Pro Tem Judge Mark Jones added four years of probation, with 80 hours of community service each year; about $20,000 in restitution to the victim’s family; and a five-year license suspension — a sentence designed to punish
Record and ensure that he doesn’t harm anyone else again, the judge said.

In May 2007, Record left Brad’s Brass Flamingo after sharing pitchers of beer and shots with a stripper and ran a red light at Southeastern Avenue and Pleasant Run Parkway. His red BMW, traveling 59 mph in a 35-mph zone, plowed into Jimmy R. Cash’s truck, nearly splitting it in two.

Cash, 46, a father and husband, died at the scene.

Cash’s family spoke of the man’s rich life after attending the Indiana School for the Deaf. He most recently had worked as a custodian at The Indianapolis Star.

“No matter what the sentence is, it won’t bring my dad back,” said Dawn Yates, Cash’s stepdaughter, after this afternoon’s hearing. “Terry Record still has his life ahead of him.”

At the time of the accident, Record had been active in Marion County Republican politics and identified himself as a contributor to the Indiana Barrister blog authored by radio talk show host Abdul Hakim-Shabazz. Murray says Record tearfully claimed he has obtained treatment for his alcoholism, but court records indicate that he was cited for drinking just months ago. If the Marion County experience is any indication, Record has a bright future ahead of him. Last year, Marion County Republicans put a man on the superior court who drove drunk and killed a father, never serving time for his crime. In Marion County, it's all about who you know. If Terry Record had been an unemployed, down and out factory worker, you have to wonder if he would be facing a more harsh sentence. The disparity in sentencing for similar types of crimes is indeed troubling. And why didn't an elected judge instead of an appointed part-time job handle the sentencing in this case? Ironically, former Clark Co. GOP Chairman Glenn Murphy, Jr. faced a nearly identical 2-year sentence for slipping off a fellow bunk mate's underwear and performing oral sex on him while the unsuspecting lad was sound asleep.

UPDATE: Fox 59 News has a good report with video, which you can view by clicking here. The story notes that Record is likely to serve only 11 months in a state prison with the sentenced imposed against him.