LEAGUE CITY — A man convicted of intoxication manslaughter in the drunken-driving death of a Dickinson woman was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison.
Anthony Lester, 44, who had two previous convictions for driving while intoxicated, was found guilty of causing the head-on collision in League City that killed Donna Lee Banduch-Lawson on Aug. 15, 2007, according to court testimony.
A jury of six men and six women found Lester guilty Thursday, after a witness to the crash testified Lester was responsible for the collision, which trapped Banduch-Lawson in her car.
Testimony in Judge Lonnie Cox’s 56th District Court indicated Lester’s blood-alcohol level measured nearly three times the legal limit of .08 percent.
A medical services employee testified Banduch-Lawson’s life might have been spared had first responders been able to free her from the wreckage.
Because she was pinned by the engine’s intrusion into her passenger compartment, first responders were unable to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Police estimated Lester’s speed was 88 mph as he traveled on FM 646 just west of South Shore Boulevard.
In two-tenths of a second, Banduch-Lawson’s car went from an estimated 55 mph to a complete stop and then was propelled backward at 22 mph, police testified.
That sudden change in speed wasn’t survivable, League City police officer Jake Busard testified.
