‘Road rage’ felon gets unruly at sentencing

MEDIA COURTHOUSE » An Upper Darby man convicted in February for a

2018 road rage incident involving a firearm was sentenced Wednesday to 9½ to

19 years in a state prison. “For what, your honor?” an agitated Darryl Woodard asked Common Pleas Court Judge G. Michael Green after the sentence was handed down. “This is a setup and you know it’s a setup!”

Woodard, 54, of the 200 block of Long Lane, was convicted by a jury on charges of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, firearms not to be carried without a license, terroristic threats, possession of a weapon and simple assault.

Woodard maintained his innocence throughout the trial and again Wednesday, giving a rambling and repetitive allocution that blamed one of the victims for being vindictive and his attorneys for failing to properly represent him.

“I didn’t do nothing wrong,” he said. “I’m not a violent person. I never shot a gun – I’ve never owned a gun a day in my life.”

Woodard was arrested June 7, 2018, shortly after a confrontation with Brendan Brown and his mother, Waltina White, in front of White’s home on the 200 block of Copley Road.

Brown testified at trial that he was visiting from Louisiana and had double parked for about a minute in front of his mother’s house with the hazard lights on so he could run inside.

When Brown reemerged, he said he heard a man in a white SUV honking his horn and saw him talking “aggressively” to his mother.

Brown said he explained to the other driver, identified as Woodard, that he was not from the area, after which the driver continued to curse at him. As Brown got into the car, he said he saw Woodard reach into the passenger side of his SUV, but Brown drove away quickly.

Brown said the SUV followed him down Copley, across Marshall Road and pulled up next to his vehicle before he turned right on Long Lane. When Brown returned to his mother’s house, he said police were there talking to his mother and sister.

White also testified that Woodard asked if Brown was her son and then told her “I got something for that m—————” before reaching into his car and getting a handgun.

White said Woodard pointed the gun at her son before she jumped in front of him and put her hands up, then Woodard pointed the gun at her. Both White and Brown’s sister also said Woodard had said words to the effect of “I’ll show him how we get down around here.”

Upper Darby Police Officer Lou Gary received a call about 7:45 p.m. that provided a description of Woodard’s vehicle. He and Officer Michael Taylor camped in the area where the vehicle was registered and soon saw it coming down the 200 block of Long Lane. When he tried to pull the vehicle over, he said it initially began pulling away but was stopped by another police cruiser driving the wrong way up the one-way road.

Woodard was placed into custody and Gary said he saw a silver handgun with extended magazine sticking out from under the passenger side seat. Upper Darby Detective Robert Marvil testified that Woodard is not registered to own a firearm in the state.

Woodard, who has been in custody since his arrest, gave a differing version of events at trial, saying it was Brown who had threatened him.

Woodard claimed he feared Brown was reaching into his car to get a gun, but a passenger in Woodard’s car pulled out a gun first. Woodard said he dropped that passenger off shortly after the confrontation, but the gun was still in the car when he was pulled over by police.

Assistant District Attorney Ashleigh Latonick told Green Wednesday that Woodard has a history of violent offenses on his record, including a 2006 conviction for a first-degree felony aggravated assault and that this was his fifth conviction for a crime of violence.

“He has been a consistent violent offender who has been unable to remain crime free despite his alleged physical impairments,” said Latonick. “He has been given the benefit of multiple opportunities to reenter the community, yet his prior sentences have failed to deter his behavior.”

Latonick asked that the judge give Woodard consecutive sentences on each count for a total of 11½ to 23 years with no possibility for early release. She noted each of the sentences were at the bottom of the standard range.

Woodard, represented by defense attorney Glen Hoffman, disputed his past convictions and what Latonick referred to as prior lengthy sentences, saying he never served for more than nine months in the past.

Hoffman sought a downward departure and asked that the sentences be run concurrently because they all stemmed from the same incident. He noted Woodard, sitting in a wheelchair at sentencing, had suffered from at least two strokes that could make him an easy target for violence in prison. He said Woodward had already been assaulted by a cellmate at the county jail and spent eight days in the infirmary.

Green indicated that he had taken Woodard’s physical condition into account when crafting the sentence, which was two years less than what Latonick had sought.

Woodard will also have to comply with the recommendations of a drug and alcohol evaluation, psychiatric and psychological evaluations, and pay a $1,340 lab fee. He will also pay Brown $134 in restitution and forfeit the firearm.

Woodard is not eligible for early release, but was given credit for time served back to his arrest.

Woodard ended Wednesday’s hearing by loudly protesting the sentence, talking over Hoffman’s attempts to read him his post-sentence rights and demanding he be given his written statement back. He was escorted from the courtroom after calling the judge a “f——— b——.”