Reduced sentence sought in DUI case

Jeanine Bethoney was returning from the grocery store on Jan. 5, 2008, when another car smashed into her Pontiac Firebird. She died at the hospital.
The driver of the other car, Barbara Diffendal, was arrested nine months later on suspicion of DUI causing death. While out on bond, she was charged with shoplifting while her 4-year-old daughter sat in the grocery cart.
In July, Diffendal took a plea bargain that gave her 13 years in prison.
That's the story to date. But a new motion from Diffendal to reduce the sentence gives a picture of what she might have testified had the case gone to trial.
On Jan. 5, Diffendal's friend came over for lunch and she ate sandwiches, chips and drank two beers, according to the motion. Around the time the friend left, Diffendal got a call asking if she would come over and do a few haircuts.
Diffendal readily agreed because she had been out of work for a year because of a broken leg. She called a friend for a ride, but the friend didn't show after several hours so Diffendal set out with her daughter.
After a short stop for candy in the shopping plaza at U.S. 19 and Forest Oaks Boulevard, Diffendal turned south onto U.S. 19. Suddenly, all the lights in the dashboard began to flash and Diffendal's car began to swerve into the car she was passing, the motion states.
"I cut the wheel to the left to avoid hitting the car next to me and upon doing this I over compensated and I flew into the median," Diffendal wrote. "I was in complete shock."
In the aftermath of the crash, Diffendal lost her glasses and soiled her pants, according to the motion. Diffendal said she did not realize the seriousness of the crash and got her daughter out of the car to find a phone.
She walked to her friend's sister's house a few blocks away and changed her pants, but was not able to find a phone. Diffendal said she waved down a passing deputy and told him she had been in a crash.
They were taken to the hospital and Diffendal later returned to the crash site to speak with the Florida Highway Patrol.
"My world was about to change forever," Diffendal said.
Nine months later, blood work returned a blood alcohol level of .05 and the presence of cocaine, according to the motion. Diffendal acknowledges it is wrong to use cocaine, but said it was taken on New Year's Eve.
She remains adamant that it was an accident.
Diffendal said she chose the plea deal so that the family would not have to endure the pain of a trial. She expresses strong remorse and sympathy for Bethoney's young daughter.
"Not a day goes by that I am not haunted by the thoughts of a little girl losing her mother," she said.
In conclusion, Diffendal asks Circuit Judge Stephen Rushing to allow her house arrest after the minimum four years she must serve in jail.
On Wednesday, Bethoney's mother, Diane Costello, called the motion insincere. Diffendal is too concerned with her own wellbeing and has shown no remorse or apologized to the family, Costello said.
Costello had hoped that with Diffendal behind bars she could restart the healing process. But this latest motion only tears open new wounds, she said.
"We all feel like we're victims that keep getting victimized by this woman," she said.