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October 1, 2008

Fatal wreck leads to charge

Prosecutors charge Muskogee man with manslaughter

By Donna Hales



Tests showed a Muskogee man was legally drunk at the time of an Aug. 17 collision that resulted in the death of a Muskogee woman.

Scott Ryan Sherwood, 28, was charged Wednesday with first-degree manslaughter in the death of Brandy A. Wiedel, 33.

Tests showed Sherwood, who was driving the 2004 GMC pickup according to a court filing, had a blood alcohol content of 0.12. A person is considered legally drunk in Oklahoma if their blood alcohol concentration is 0.08 or above.

Sherwood could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

His attorney, Mike Howerton, said the death of Brandy Wiedel is a horrible, horrible family tragedy. Howerton said the tragedy touched every member of her family and her husband Justin Wiedel’s family. Sherwood is Justin Wiedel’s first cousin.

“They are all like one big family,” Howerton said.

He said the families were expecting something to be filed, but Howerton said he was out of town Wednesday afternoon and wants to read the filing before making additional comment.

A person convicted of first-degree manslaughter could face four years to life in prison, but could be eligible for a suspended or deferred sentence, said Muskogee County District Attorney Larry Moore.

Wiedel, the mother of three, was a passenger in Sherwood’s truck. The pickup careened off the east side of Gulick Street near Davis Field Road, went into a ditch and through a barbed-wire fence before striking a round bale of hay and rolling onto its side, police said at the time.

The accident was reported at 2:44 a.m. Brandy Wiedel was partially ejected from the back seat of the extended-cab pickup, said Muskogee Police Lt. Jerry Jaynes.

Justin Wiedel, who was in the front seat of the pickup authorities say, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The decision to file charges came after Moore received the report from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday.

The OSBI report shows Justin Wiedel had no concentration of alcohol in his blood on Aug. 17 , Moore said.

Sherwood is scheduled to make an initial appearance in Muskogee County District Court at 9:30 a.m. today, court records reflect.



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