Sean C. Morgan
Robert Eugene Mayfield was sentenced to 13 months in prison Friday afternoon, Jan. 17, in Linn County Circuit Court for the death of Sweet Home log truck driver Neil Nightingale in a crash four years ago.
Mayfield, of Sweet Home, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and fourth-degree assault in December. Dismissed as part of plea negotiations were charges of first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter and third-degree assault. He had requested probation and up to 300 hours of community service while the state sought a 13-month prison sentence.
According to state police reports on the Jan. 21, 2016 crash, a 1998 International utility truck driven by Mayfield, 58, was westbound on Highway 20 near milepost 21, near the Santiam Lumber Mill, when the truck crossed the center turn lane, struck an eastbound 2003 Subaru Legacy, driven by David Briggs of Lebanon and then collided head on with a 2011 Kenworth log truck operated by Neil Nightingale, 39, of Sweet Home.
Both Mayfield and Nightingale were critically injured in the crash. Nightingale died Jan. 29, 2016. Briggs was the victim in the charge of fourth-degree assault.
During Friday’s hearing, Deputy District Attorney Richard Wijers outlined the events, focusing primarily on the use of a cell phone, that led up to the fatal crash, urging the court to impose the maximum possible sentence under the plea agreement, while Mayfield’s defense attorney argued for probation.
Members of the victim’s family gave statements about their loss, followed by comments from Mayfield’s friends and family about his character.
Then Mayfield turned to face Nightingale’s family members and gave an apology before he was sentenced by Judge Tom McHill.
For the charge of criminally negligent homicide, a class B felony, McHill imposed a sentence of 13 months in prison, with 36 months of post-prison supervision and a fine of $200, with $3,011 in restitution to Nightingale’s parents. He sentenced Mayfield to 30 days incarceration, concurrent with the 13-month sentence, for the charge of fourth-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor.
Wijers, the prosecutor, opened the hearing by telling the judge that he was not in court to litigate the facts of the case, but he did want to “give the court a well-rounded sense of what we’re talking about.”
A grand jury initially declined to indict Mayfield, Wijers said. State police investigators were unable to access Mayfield’s phone at the time, but as part of a wrongful death suit against Mayfield and his employer, Papé Machinery, private forensic investigator Thomas Nelson was able to obtain information from Mayfield’s phone.
The lawsuit was settled in October 2018. Details of the settlement were not public.
Nelson determined through forensic analysis that Mayfield was using his phone in the minutes leading up to the crash, Wijers said. Data is stored in a cache, which is updated whenever the phone’s messenger applications are accessed.
The phone had software that prevented the use of the phone while a vehicle was in motion, Wijers said. It could be disabled for use by passengers.
Nelson’s investigation showed that Mayfield deactivated the lock and looked at the phone three times in seven minutes, Wijers said. He accessed the phone at 6:50 a.m. The crash occurred between 6:50 and 6:51 a.m.
Mayfield had been driving to pick up a Lebanon man for work, Wijers said. The investigation showed he was manually using a combination of the phone’s text messaging application, Facebook Messenger and the dialing function to search for a phone number associated with the man.
Wijers said Mayfield first looked in his text message application and then Facebook Messenger. After finding it buried in a Facebook Messenger conversation, Mayfield selected and started the phone dialing process.
Wijers said that’s when the phone became inoperable due to the collision.
“What we have here is him literally using his phone up until the moment of the collision,” Wijers said.
“The defendant, distracted, failed to see that he was rapidly approaching a vehicle ahead of him in his lane of travel,” Wijers said in a memorandum to the court. “The defendant ‘looked up,’ and attempting to avoid the collision with the vehicle in front of him, made an effort to swerve to his left, sending his car into the oncoming eastbound Highway 20 traffic. The defendant’s vehicle side-swiped David Briss’ Subaru. The defendant’s vehicle continued into the Highway 20 eastbound lane of travel, where Neil Nightingale was operating his semi-truck. The defendant collided headlong into Neil Nightingale’s truck, causing the victim catastrophic injuries that eight days later would ultimately prove to be fatal.”
Briggs suffered broken ribs, cuts, bruises and a lingering pain in his knee as a result of the collision, Wijers said.
After receiving permission from the court, Wijers said, the state resubmitted the facts of the case, including those discovered as part of the civil lawsuit, to the grand jury in November 2018, and it indicted Mayfield this time.
As part of victim impact statements, Nightingale’s father, Gary Nightingale told the court that he was no longer able to enjoy his favorite hobbies – hunting, fishing, camping and working in the shop.
“Neil was a part of all of this,” Gary Nightingale said. “I now have to grow old without him.”
In a letter to the court last year, he said, “Neil’s mom and I miss him daily, extremely, especially birthdays, holidays, hunting and fishing trips. I find myself crying when I’m alone and miss him so much.”
“Originally, all we wanted from Mr. Mayfield was just to man up, tell us he was sorry,” Nightingale said in court Friday. “We never heard anything like that.”
He wanted Mayfield to serve a full year, he said, so Mayfield will know what is like to not have full access to family and friends on those days and events that “make life so great and memorable.”
“We have to spend the rest of our life without a son,” Nightingale said.
“My heart and family’s hearts will always be broken, never to be normal,” said Neil Nightingale’s mother, Annette Nightingale. “All of our lives were drastically changed forever. This should never have happened.”
She described her son as a hard-working man who enjoyed life, who maintained a close relationship with his parents.
“I pray that today we can finally begin to truly heal,” said Tami Nightingale, Neil Nightingale’s wife, recalling Neil Nightingale’s last night, standing in the hallway, telling his family “he loved us. My heart aches because our son (Ryder) lost so much. Alyssa (Nightingale’s stepdaughter) lost the father figure she longed for her whole life.
“Neil had plans and aspirations, but he didn’t get to do anything past those 39 years.”
Wendy Younger read a statement on behalf of her niece and Neil Nightingale’s stepdaughter, Alyssa Orr.
“Neil was the only father I’ve known,” she said. To see him taken away “in a blink of an eye” is heartbreaking. “I can’t imagine being a boy (her brother Ryder) without a dad.”
While most other kids are inside playing video games, Ryder spent most of his time outside with his dad, Orr said.
Orr noted that it is only because of her mother, Tami Nightingale, hiring investigators that they were finally able to learn the truth about the crash.
All she ever has wanted, Tami Nightingale said, is the truth, that Mayfield made that choice and took his eyes off the road while he was driving a very large truck.
Before Neil Nightingale died, “I promised him I would find out the truth,” Tami Nightingale said. “I never gave up.”
Wijers pointed out that “there is a wife without a husband, parents without a son, children without a father.” The state sought a 13-month sentence based on two principles.
First, Wijers said, is that when someone does something criminal that results in a death, it should result in a prison sentence. Second, at this point, distracted driving is viewed similarly to when driving under the influence was coming to be regarded as a dangerous crime.
Mayfield isn’t someone the court should expect to see again, Wijers said, but the sentence is about acknowledging what he did that day. The state was seeking “a proportional and just sentence for the defendant’s conduct.”
Mayfield’s attorney, Laura Fine, acknowledged that “the last four years have just been tragic for Mr. Nightingale’s family.” She noted that the grand jury knew he had momentarily taken his eyes off the road when they chose not to indict in 2016.
Fine said that Mayfield looked up to see a log truck, driven by Dale Cook, turning from the center lane directly into Mayfield’s path, according to a witness, causing Mayfield to swerve left; although, Cook denied turning in front of Mayfield.
She told the court that Mayfield had “attempted to be as forthcoming as possible,” but he had “post-traumatic amnesia” and is able to remember only some things about the crash.
“He does take full responsibility,” Fine said. He did not attempt to put blame anywhere else.
He showed up to depositions and did what his attorneys told him to do, Fine said, and immediately after the lawsuit was closed, the state filed charges, keeping him from talking to the victim’s family.
Family members and friends made statements to the court, written and oral, describing Mayfield as caring, self-sacrificing, dedicated and loving. They described a lifetime of service to others, from elderly women to recovering addicts.
“He has constantly and consistently prayed for the Nightingale family,” said his daughter, Sarah Sanderbrink. “Years later, we have all been diligent in prayer for the Nightingale family.”
He wanted to go to the Nightingales and apologize, Sanderbrink said, but he had to do what the lawyers told him to do.
“My father is a lovely man, and he’s that way because of his relationship with Jesus Christ,” Sanderbrink said. “He will be desperately missed by all those who have Gene (Mayfield) in their lives.”
Cameron Provence said he has known Mayfield for 18 years.
“He is the one who has gotten me to where I am now,” Provence said. When Provence’s father went to prison, Mayfield was there for him. “Gene soon became a father that I never had. He is always there to listen and straighten me out when I can’t see the positives. He continues to push me to be a better man.”
Grover Hubbard, a massage therapist who has worked with Mayfield through his recovery, testified that “I know he’s very remorseful. If he could take it back, he would.”
Incarcerating Mayfield would bring harm to the community just because of what Mayfield does, Hubbard said.
“Gene is a broken man, physically and emotionally,” said Tom Sanderbrink, pastor at Lebanon Calvary Chapel. He said he doesn’t know how many times Mayfield prayed for the Nightingale family, “wishing he could go talk to them. If he could give his life to bring some kind of hope and comfort to the Nightingale family, he would.”
Fine said she was concerned that Mayfield’s ongoing medication and physical therapy would be interrupted while being processed into the Department of Corrections and that it would affect his recovery, resulting in loss of motion, diminishing his ability to earn a living and contribute to the community.
Given a combination of mental and physical deficits, as outlined by doctors, Fine said, in prison with no criminal history, Mayfield will be rendered to victim status, more easily targeted and taken advantage of by others.
Fine said in a memorandum that on the date of the crash, it was not against the law for a driver to check a cell phone for an address, although calling and texting were disallowed. Based on the large number of citations, 10,317, for using mobile electronic devices in Oregon in 2016, the general public failed to be aware of the substantial risk associated with cell phone access while driving, she suggested.
Mayfield had a strong defense during an administrative hearing about his license, and his license was not suspended following the crash, Fine said in the memorandum. When he was later charged and then the state made a plea offer allowing Mayfield to request probation, Mayfield “dropped his eyes and told me that he simply could not put Mr. Nightingale’s family through the painful process of a trial. He entered his pleas of guilt freely and voluntarily. He accepts what judgment will be rendered because takes responsibility for his actions.”
Probation, rather than prison would more likely benefit the community, Fine said, while counseling and community service would help Mayfield to atone.
Mayfield told the court that “I come before you with a heart and spirit that is broken.
“My heart aches daily for the pain and suffering Neil’s family feels because of my actions.”
He said he came to realize that Neil Nightingale was a father, son and husband.
“I really wish I could’ve known him.
“My heart and my body will not let me forget the mistake I made that morning.”
He then turned to face the Nightingale family: “I want you to know I am so sorry for the pain that I have caused you. I take full responsibility for my role in the accident on Jan. 21, 2016. I have wanted to come to each of you personally for years.”
On the advice of his lawyers, “I was forbidden to come,” Mayfield said. “I regret that I didn’t come. I know that you have wanted me to tell the truth.”
The truth is, Mayfield said, he remembers only three details from the crash: something in front of him that caused him to swerve, hearing a woman’s voice and being hung up on the door jamb as he was extricated from his vehicle.
“I’m sorry, but this is all I can tell you of my memory of that day,” Mayfield said, adding that whatever else he knows is from the witnesses.
“Neither of us should’ve lived that day,” Mayfield said. “I shouldn’t be here. I don’t know why God chose me, to save my life; but He did.”
Returning his attention to the judge, Mayfield said, “I understand your decision will be a difficult one, but whatever you decide is God’s will for my life.”
Mayfield next addressed a letter from Ryder Nightingale, Neil Nightingale’s son, asking why Mayfield had used a cell phone.
“Ryder, I was a selfish person,” Nightingale said. “I wasn’t thinking of others. I’m sorry. I’m learning from this to be more sacrificial.”
Also in response to Ryder Nightingale, Mayfield said he agreed and would advocate for the end of all use of cell phones in vehicles, even while riding, and he agreed to write a letter of apology.
McHill said it would be an understatement to say the crash was a tragedy for everyone involved and doing so “doesn’t give the due respect for what’s happened.”
“I have not looked forward to this day, this particular case,” he said.
The legislature has given him guidelines for sentencing, McHill said, and after considering all of the documents and statements, he did not find cause to allow probation as an alternative to incarceration.
“There are no words that can take care of this,” McHill told Mayfield in delivering the sentence. “But I do wish you the best of luck, sir.”
“We’re pleased that there’s been a resolution,” Julie Mayfield, Mayfield’s wife, told The New Era. “There’ll be some healing, and we can all just move forward. Our family will continue to pray for restoration and healing for the Nightingale family.”
“My heart is broken for everyone involved in this tragedy,” Tami Nightingale told The New Era. “It’s been a hard four years, and nothing brings Neil back. But having Mr. Mayfield accept responsibility and sincerely apologize means so much to my son and I, as well as the rest of our families. I go to sleep every night Praying for everyone involved.”