Longtime public defender Michael S. Alevy found himself in an unusual position Thursday in New London Superior Court, when he stood at the prosecutor's table and addressed the court as the victim of a crime.

Alevy, who works as a senior assistant public defender in New Haven, was critically injured on Aug. 30, 2015, when he was struck from behind by a car while bicycling with friends on Route 148 in Chester. He was taken by Life Star helicopter to Yale-New Haven Hospital for treatment of eight broken ribs, a broken ankle, a fractured back, head trauma, collapsed lungs and severe road rash.  

The driver, 49-year-old Kenneth Tanner of Washington, N.H., did not stop. He was arrested later in Middletown, where police said he was incoherent and smelled of alcohol but refused to be tested. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, evading responsibility and second-degree assault with a vehicle. While the case was pending, Tanner was involved in a second incident, in Clinton in Feb. 2017. Police said they found his car in a ditch with empty bottles of Mike's Hard Lemonade inside. He was located later and charged with evading responsibility.

Tanner's cases were heard in New London, where Alevy has never worked with the judges or attorneys, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Tanner was headed to trial recently when he accepted a plea deal involving a sentence of 10 years in prison, suspended after four years served, followed by five years probation. He pleaded no contest in the Alevy case to evading responsibility resulting in a physical injury, driving under the influence of alcohol and second-degree assault with a motor vehicle. He pleaded guilty to evading responsibility in the Clinton case.

His attorney, Sebastian O. DeSantis, said Tanner, a father of two with a steady work history, had never before been in trouble. As the case headed to trial, Tanner had a "turning point" and decided to plead no contest and not go forward with the trial after seeing photographs of Alevy's injuries, DeSantis said.

Tanner claims he was not drinking the day he struck Alevy but was in diabetic distress and can't remember anything. The state consulted a medical expert who reviewed a video of Tanner's arrest in Middletown and concluded he was not suffering a diabetic attack because his condition improved as time passed. 

"With all due respect, that's what we were dealing with this day — a drunk," said prosecutor Stephen M. Carney, who was covering the sentencing for prosecutor Sarah W. Bowman. "This was not a medical incident."

Alevy attended Tanner's sentencing hearing Thursday with his wife, Gina Giuliano, and Michelle Lettieri, director of victim services for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. He began his remarks by saying he was in a difficult position, and so was Tanner.

"I'm lucky to be alive, and you're lucky I'm not dead," Alevy said. "I came close to that."

Alevy recovered after several months and is back on his bicycle for long-distance rides, though he still suffers nerve damage and shoulder pain.

"It's never too late to learn," he said. "It's never too late to take responsibility. It's never to late to do what you have to do."

On the way out of the courtroom, Alevy stopped to comfort Tanner's teary-eyed daughter, who was sitting alone.

"This is a very unfortunate circumstance," said Lettieri from MADD. "No one wins when you drink and drive. There are two families that are never going to be the same. It's very easy. If you are going to drink, don't drive."

While on probation, Tanner will be prohibited from using drugs or alcohol, subject to random Breathalyzer tests and will be required to use an ignition interlock device when his driver's license is restored. Judge Hillary B. Strackbein ordered him to attend two MADD victim impact panels and perform 100 hours of community service.

"Alcohol has no place in your life," Strackbein said.

k.florin@theday.comon