Cassady will spend six days in jail for November accident

By Gwyneth Gibby


Gazette-Times reporter

A high-ranking administrator at Oregon State University was sentenced Friday to six days in jail for a drunken-driving incident last November.

John Cassady, 68, OSU’s vice president for research, agreed to the jail sentence as part of a plea agreement with the Benton County District Attorney’s Office. The charges stem from a Nov. 18 incident in which he crashed his 2003 Oldsmobile into two neighbors’ garages near his home on Southwest Fairhaven Court. His blood-alcohol content was 0.18 percent at the time, more than twice the legal limit.

At the hearing, Cassady said he had made a serious error in judgment and had to pay a price.

“I’m determined to take a negative and turn it into a positive,” he said.

Cassady was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants, fourth-degree assault, criminal mischief and reckless endangering. He was charged with assault because his wife, Nancy, 68, who was in the car at the time of the incident, was injured. She hit her head and had a cut that required stitches.

As a result of the plea agreement, negotiated with Deputy District Attorney John Mason, Cassady pleaded guilty to one count of driving under the influence of intoxicants and one count of reckless endangering. In addition to the jail term, Benton County Presiding Judge Locke Williams sentenced Cassady to a diversion program for the reckless-endangering charge, and bench probation for 18 months. Cassady must also pay a fine of $1,293. His driver’s license will be suspended for a year and he must attend a victim-impact panel.

The restitution to neighbors for the property damage has already been taken care of by insurance, Mason said.

The other charges were dismissed.

Cassady has no previous criminal record, no traffic tickets or any other involvement with law enforcement. Benton County has sentencing guidelines for first-time DUII offenders that do not include jail time. Usually a 10-day work program is required along with substance-abuse evaluation and 18 months of bench probation.

But an injury during a drunken-driving incident usually means the defendant does not qualify for a diversion program. However, under the plea agreement, in exchange for the jail sentence on the DUII charge, Cassady can complete a diversion program and the charge of reckless endangering will be dismissed.

Mason said Cassady and his wife had been dining at a restaurant on Nov. 18 and had split a couple of bottles of wine. Cassady drove home without mishap, but his car rolled down a driveway at their residence and hit the garages. Police who responded to the scene said there was a strong smell of alcohol from Cassady.

Mason said the jail sentence was perhaps more important for the community than for Cassady.

“It’s important for people to see there is a penalty to be paid,” Mason said.

He added he does not expect to see Cassady back in court again.

Nancy Cassady said in the hearing that her husband had been admired all his life.

“He has been a hero to all his grandchildren and children,” she said, “and still is mine.”

Immediately after the hearing, Cassady was escorted by his attorney to turn himself in to jail.