VanDyke gets 0 to 5 years

PROVO — A man convicted of a felony DUI and sentenced to prison Wednesday morning blamed the prosecutors and his past but mainly the media for what he calls an unfair court process.

"I've seen a lot of media coverage of this," Robert VanDyke, 43, told Judge Claudia Laycock in 4th District Court. "The media doesn't care about you or I. We're just the means to get their laundry detergent, their soft drinks." VanDyke was convicted by a jury of driving under the influence after he left a Spanish Fork sports complex on Sept. 25, having consumed a beer a few hours earlier. He was sentenced Wednesday to zero to five years in the Utah State Prison.

Laycock assured VanDyke that she was aware of the media attention and carefully reviewed each of her decisions to ensure she was acting on facts,

not media pressure.

"If, as a judge, I cave into the will of the press or their readers or their viewers, then I'm not doing my job," she said.

The sentencing began with VanDyke's attorney, Shelden Carter, discussing why the jury verdict should be thrown out — a motion Laycock denied.

Carter argued that the state never proved that VanDyke was unable to operate his vehicle safely.

"(The officer) followed him and during that period of time, (he saw) no violations of the law," Carter said. "In fact, Mr. VanDyke was operating his vehicle in a very safe and capable fashion."

The officer only pulled in behind VanDyke after he pulled over on Main Street in Spanish Fork. It was then that the officer observed VanDyke's slow response to questions, slurred speech and his refusal to take field sobriety tests. VanDyke was then arrested and taken to jail for DUI.

Carter and VanDyke and his family believe the jury got information about VanDyke's past that wasn't introduced at trial, including three prior DUI convictions and 10 alcohol-related arrests in the past 20 years.

"They had to know," Carter said. "The juries are not oblivious to the news sources. My suspicions are that they had some information."

The case had been covered fairly extensively in the media due to VanDyke's lengthy criminal history, which included an automobile homicide case from 2000 in West Valley City.

"He's been tried and convicted in the press," said VanDyke's father, Bob. "He's paying again for something he's already paid for."