Frank Bingham asked for justice as he told a packed Denver courtroom that he fears he will lose memories he has of his wife and two children since the night a drunken driver ran over them near the 16th Street Mall.
“An inappropriately light sentence would not only dishonor the three beautiful, innocent people whom we will never again see on this earth, but it would also betray the rule of law that our society relies upon,” Bingham told a Denver District Court judge Tuesday.
Judge Morris Hoffman, who said he had difficulty coming to a decision, sentenced Lawrence Trujillo to 48 years in state prison after hearing emotional pleas from the Bingham and Trujillo families.
“The hardest sentences to impose are when good people do terrible things,” Hoffman said. “There is certainly no price that will undo this.”
A passenger in Trujillo’s car, Eric Snell, received a six-year suspended sentence for being an accessory to the crime and a 90-day jail term for driving under the influence in an incident after the November crash.
Bingham, at times through tears, told the judge that Trujillo robbed him of the dreams he had for his family.
“I am no longer a husband,” he said. “I am no longer a father. And sometimes I feel as if I am only a shell of what I once was. Despite the many family members and friends who have drawn close to me during this horrifying experience, I mostly feel alone.”
Bingham said he will never see his 4-year-old daughter, Macie, grown up in her wedding gown or build a go-cart with son Garrison, who was 2 when he died. Bingham and his wife, 39-year-old Rebecca, did not get the chance to grow old together.
“I’m unsure how big the memory bank will be a year from now or a decade from now,” Bingham said. “I think of myself as a 70-year-old man, trying to go back 30 years, and I wonder what I will remember of the days when I had this beautiful family.”
Trujillo, 36, who said he had pleaded guilty to all the charges against him in order to spare the Binghams the pain of a trial, apologized to them and told the judge he would respect whatever sentence was handed down.
“I look at Mr. Bingham and it makes my problems not seem as bad,” Trujillo said. “I cannot imagine losing what he has. I just can’t compare it. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about what I have done.”
Trujillo was drinking the afternoon and evening of Nov. 10, and at 55 mph ran red lights, honking his truck horn, through downtown Denver. He drove into the Binghams, injuring Frank and killing the rest of his family in the crosswalk of Arapahoe and 15th streets.
Bingham left the court without making a comment about the sentence. But Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said it was not harsh enough.
During the hearing, Morrissey said the crime “haunts the family and haunts a city” and that “a family in Denver should be able to cross the street without being run down by a drunk.”
Although Trujillo received a 48-year term, he is eligible for parole in 33 years.
“I asked for a 90-year sentence,” Morrissey said after the hearing. “There is no Bingham family. The Bingham family died that night in the street.”
Trujillo’s lawyer, Rob Bernhardt, who had asked for a 24-year sentence, said at least his client has an opportunity to walk out of prison someday.
“I think he is at peace with what’s happened and now he’s got to do his time,” Bernhardt said.
Trujillo’s family and friends begged for leniency.
They described him as a successful family man, coach and businessman with a son and daughter who worship him.
His mother, Joanne Trujillo, told the judge that he made a mistake the night he drove drunk in his truck, struck the family in a crosswalk and took off, but had no intention of killing anyone.
“He would have been the first one to chase that truck,” she said. “He would have been the first one to pick your kids up. It was a one-time thing.”
She left the courtroom sobbing.
Laura Rokosz, Trujillo’s wife, said her husband was devoted to her and his children and that he made a mistake.
“What happened last November is so uncharacteristic of him,” Rokosz told the judge.
But Morrissey painted a more sinister portrait of Trujillo and said he was caught only because his license plate fell into Garrison’s stroller.
The prosecutor said Trujillo continued drinking, visited several strip clubs after the crash and was found hiding in a van.
“He was going to try and get away with this,” Morrissey said. “He killed three members of our community and he did not bat an eye.”
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
