Attorney is ordered to serve 4 years for killing pedestrian

TULSA — An attorney was sentenced to four years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter in a 2017 drunk driving auto-pedestrian crash.

Emma Barlie Arnett, a 43-year-old attorney who worked for the Department of Human Services, did not have a plea recommendation from the state at the time she pleaded guilty to killing 26-year-old Christopher Brown while driving under the influence near 51st Street and Delaware Avenue early Aug. 27.

Court records indicate she had a 0.142 blood alcohol concentration at the time she completed a blood draw, and that although she declined to take a breath test, she failed a field sobriety test.

District Judge Doug Drummond ruled at the conclusion of a sentencing hearing Monday that Arnett should spend four years in prison with another eight years suspended, as well as pay a $1,000 fine. She will have a judicial review July 1, which could result in a modification of her sentence.

In deciding the sentence, Drummond said he took into account that Brown could have been hit by anyone because he had been walking in a lane of traffic on 51st Street, but said Arnett — given her level of intoxication — should not have been driving at all.

“I’m very sorry that all of this has happened,” Arnett, speaking through tears, told the court. She also thanked her family and friends for their support, as well as thanked members of Brown’s family, whom she said gave her a “great gift of grace and compassion” through their victim impact statements.

Brown’s brother, Lawrence, said Arnett’s choices “fundamentally changed our family” and expressed frustration that she, despite being a longtime attorney, still broke the law. However, he and his father said they wanted to see Arnett grow from the experience and told her they would be at peace with whatever the court believed was appropriate.

Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray, in his request for prison time, said the situation was “doubly tragic” because Arnett by all counts led a productive life and had significant support from her loved ones before she caused Brown’s death. Gray said Brown’s life, despite any struggles he may have had, still had value and that Arnett should face legal consequences for her actions.

Arnett’s attorney, Ben Fu, said his client will live with what took place for the rest of her life and said the facts of the case did not merit a lengthy period of incarceration. He also commended Brown’s family for showing “grace and forgiveness” to Arnett despite their loss.