Ludwig won't get jail time in burglary case

By Cindy Landrum  

JANUARY 8, 2010 11:16 a.m. (2)

 

John Ludwig Jr.’s controversial probationary sentence for plowing his speeding, out-of-control Maserati through a house and killing the homeowner who was inside watching television will stand, a circuit judge ruled Friday.

Retired Circuit Court Judge James C. Williams Jr. filed an order Friday morning reaffirming the sentence which shocked 13th Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail, outraged the community and had some in the legal community talking about a two-tired justice system.

The sentence impacted an unrelated burglary case against Ludwig.

On Friday, Ludwig pleaded guilty to assault of a high and aggravated nature in connection with a July 2008 case where Ludwig kicked in the door of the home of a man who was involved with his then-estranged wife.

In a deal reached before the reckless homicide sentencing, Ariail agreed he would not seek a greater sentence on that charge than what Ludwig received for reckless homicide.

He said Friday he was bound to that agreement, even though he disagreed with the probationary sentence.

Seeking a harsher sentence on the assault charge to make up for what the public perceived as a failure of the justice system could be viewed as retaliatory or vengeful prosecution, he said.

“For him to be sentenced more harshly by the court in this case for the purpose of correcting an inadequate sentence in the reckless homicide case would in fact be a failure of the system,” Ariail told the judge.

After the judge sentenced Ludwig to five years in prison suspended to three years probation, a spectator in the courtroom stood up and said, “You failed us Bob. You failed the people who elected you.”

Of the criticism leveled at him, Ariail said he believed at the time of the reckless homicide plea and now the facts would result in an active prison sentence.

“Therefore, if I erred in any manner it was in presuming that the egregious facts of the reckless homicide, along with the defendant’s extensive driving history would impact the judge as it did me and most of the Greenville community,” Ariail said in a statement.

During court, Williams said he thought the solicitor’s recommendation was fair based on the facts of the assault case.

“I will not allow my sentence in a previous case to influence my sentence in this case,” he said.

Ariail had asked Williams to reconsider the reckless homicide sentence, saying it was inconsistent with sentences in other reckless homicide cases, that Williams’ comments about Ludwig’s wealth were inappropriate and that public confidence in the justice system had been shaken.

In the order, Williams said the state offered only names and sentences of the 16 defendants guilty of reckless homicide in Greenville County in the past five years, but offered no details.

“Because the imposition of a sentence in any case is very specific to the details of that case and of the characteristics of each defendant, the absence of such details precludes any conclusion that Ludwig’s sentence is disproportionate to the sentences of the 16 defendants whose cases the state presented,” the order said.

The only significant information furnished by the state is that seven of the 16 received no jail time, the order said.

Williams said during sentencing, characteristics such as kindness, generosity, unselfishness, industriousness, motivation and public service, prior convictions, absence of malice, restitution and acceptance of responsibility are all factors that should be considered.

“Obviously, both a wealthy person and a poor person can exhibit these traits; they simply do so at different levels, as their different levels of wealth allow,” Williams wrote.

And, finally, Williams said that while the court is concerned with public reaction and the appearance of impartiality, the court’s primary focus “is to ensure that justice is done and that each defendant is actually treated fairly, in spite of public reaction.”

Williams said the public reaction was generated by such things as length of time between the incident and Ludwig’s arrest, his reputed wealth, his ownership of a Maserati and “the sensational, but unrealistic expectations created by indicting him for murder.”

Williams said there was not a “vast, evil conspiracy in the case.”

He said many of the opinions expressed about the case are based on false and misleading information about the case or a lack of information, which he called “probably the biggest problem.”

Assistant Solicitor Allen Fretwell told Williams Ludwig banged on the door of Benjy Brown’s apartment so hard the door frame shook before he kicked it in.

“He had this crazed, twitching look on his face like I’ve never seen before,” Brown told the judge.

Fretwell told the judge Brown managed to escape to a neighbor’s house and called 911.

While he was talking to police, Ludwig returned with “tunnel vision” and charged at Brown, Fretwell said. Police had to use a Taser gun to arrest Ludwig, the prosecutor said.

“He wasn’t there to talk to me,” Brown told the judge. “I feel sure if he got his hands on me, he would have killed me.”

Brown, who said Ludwig tried to bribe him to get him to drop the charges, said he’s called “dead man walking” by co-workers at his new job.

He said he moved to another apartment because it has more than one way to escape.

“There’s more than those 15 minutes to Ludwig and it forever changed me,” he said.

Bruce Byrholdt, Ludwig’s attorney, said Ludwig and his ex-wife, Donavon Ludwig, were separated on a trial basis.

He said during daily visits to the marital home, Ludwig would play with his children, cook dinner and other household chores, even the laundry. After he discovered a “suspicious substance” on an article of his estranged wife’s clothing, he had it scientifically tested, Byrholdt said. The test showed it was semen and Ludwig confronted his wife and Brown, who said they were “just friends.”

Donavon Ludwig denied having an affair.

Ludwig discovered Brown had a criminal record and had a MySpace page containing references to his drug use, prior criminal activity, sexually suggestive material and pictures of children making obscene gestures, Byrholdt said.

Ludwig went to Brown’s apartment to tell him to stay away from his children, the attorney said.

When Brown refused to open the door, Ludwig kicked in the door, “doing what most fathers would do,” Byrholdt said.

“If John had wanted to injure Brown, he could have easily done so,” Byrholdt said.

Byrholdt said the situation was “blown completely out of proportion.”

Ludwig still faces a pending criminal domestic violence charge in Greenville Municipal Court.