McDonald County Circuit Court Judge John LePage last week sentenced Karl Jobst, 36, a former Lamar resident, to three years of unsupervised probation, community service, and $46 to the crime victims compensation fund, according to court records.
Jobst was represented by Travis Noble, St. Louis, a specialist in winning seemingly unwinnable drunk driving cases. According to his law firm's website, Noble recently won a not guilty verdict for a nurse charged with her seventh DWI offense and another jury verdict for a client charged with driving while intoxicated for a fifth time.
"He has successfully tried DWI cases involving charges of first offense DWI, felony DWI and murder second DWI," according to the website.
The circumstances surrounding the death of Jobst's girlfriend, Helen Chandler, were included in a legal case filed by an insurance company in U. S. District Court in Oklahoma.
On June 13, 2003, Jobst met Ms. Chandler at his home in Grove. Ms. Chandler lived in Tulsa and worked for a dentist in Owasso, "but she often spent the weekends with Jobst at his home in Grove. Chandler had been romantically involved with Jobst for approximately five years, living with him for several years before she moved to Tulsa," the opinion said. She usually stayed with on weekends.
At about 7 p.m. that evening, they drove to Joplin to have dinner "as they had on numerous other occasions. However, Jobst claims that on this particular night he and Chandler's dinner trip was purely for 'business purposes.' He also claims that Chandler 'owned the car that was involved in the accident."
The car was a 1999 white BMW convertible which Jobst bought, titled, insured with GEICO and borrowed $28,000 from the bank of Oklahoma for during the 10 days prior to the accident, the opinion said.
The two went to Club 609 in Joplin "consuming more than two bottles of wine." As they returned to Oklahoma, "they heard a radio announcement for a nightclub called 'The Shadow Lake Bar' in Noel and detoured to pay a visit."
The opinion says that Jobst told Ms. Chandler's sister, Betty Cartright, after the accident, that they went to the bar to "check out the dancing." That was not what he claimed later, when he said they were there to "conduct further dentistry business." In court documents, Jobst has indicated he was trying to get Ms. Chandler, who had previously worked for him, to return to her old job.
"Almost immediately upon leaving the bar in the early morning hours of June 14, 2003, they were involved in a single-car accident when Jobst lost control of the car. He was injured and Chandler was killed. Both Jobst and Chandler were intoxicated," the opinion said.
2 comments:
I wonder if you really know how good of a deal that is Randy? It’s not just that he doesn’t have to do jail time but if he completes the three years probation then he won’t even have a conviction on his record.
What an SIS probation (what Jobst got)stands for is Suspended Imposition of Sentence. The way an SIS works is the defendant pleads guilty but the Judge withholds sentencing the defendant and places him on probation. If the person violates probation then the Judge imposes a sentence, which can be anything within the legal range of punishment. On the other hand, if the person completes probation successfully, then the Judge never imposes a sentence and in Missouri a person is not considered to be convicted of a crime until a sentence is imposed. So, if the person completes an SIS probation his criminal record will remain clean.
One wonders with that deal what the PA would have had to lose if he tried the case out and lost.
I also question how and associate court judge had jurisdiction to sentence someone charged with a felony. I thought the associate circuit judge only had jurisdiction to rule on the existence of probable cause on felonies.
I agree whole heartedly that Dr. Jobst got a great deal and that some of us would not be as fortunate! It's my understanding that he will never have a record if he doesn't violate the probation. I also believe there are ouside factors involved in this particular case.
Regardless of the celebrity status of Jobst' attorney, I firmly believe that if clear evidence of drunk driving existed, the PA would have pursued a DUI conviction. I've certainly not read all of the court documents but I do know that McDonald county and the PA's office are dedicated to enforcing the law. I would assume the county not only lacked evidence but overwhelmingly knew a jury would not convict.
The second particular in the Jobst case is that of the deceased' family. I have a friend who works in McDonald County and actually witnessed the family in court. Helen Chandler's aged parents and siblings expressed total support and openly discussed the love that each of them have for Jobst. All of the family members agreed that the deceased would not want a jail sentence to be handed down. As I understnad, it was an emotional time for everyone involved. Yes, people with the kind of money that Karl Jobst has are treated differently in our judicial system, right or wrong. I'm just not convinced this is one of those instances. Jobst must face everyday knowing that he was the driver of the car in which his longtime girlfriend died. In NO way am I taking the side of Jobst, I simply believe that due to evidence and the wishes of the deceased' family that the outcome could have been no different.
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