LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — A man who admitted to drinking for hours before he ran over and killed a motorcyclist in Lake County was granted a rare hearing that could reduce his prison sentence.
Bruce Duncan was sentenced to 10 years and four months in prison in 2011.
He tested twice the legal limit when his truck plowed into Steve Muller, who was riding his motorcycle near Mount Dora in 2009.
Muller’s family is worried Duncan won’t serve his whole sentence.
They’re frustrated because most of the clemency process is confidential, so they don’t have a lot of answers.
“We are very much opposed to any kind of clemency or forgiveness of Bruce Duncan,” said the victim’s brother, Thomas Muller.
Steve Muller was a retired postal worker in Mount Dora.
Duncan was a well-known attorney with long family ties to Lake County.
Many of his supporters packed the courtroom at his sentencing.
The victim’s brother wonders if Duncan’s connection helped him obtain a clemency hearing, given the rarity of how often they’re offered.
The clemency board is made up of the governor and three cabinet members.
The state said six cases requesting a reduction in sentence have made it to the board in the past five years.
Four of them were reduced.
Defense attorney John Spivey said Duncan is a good man who made a very stupid mistake.
But Thomas Muller said it was a mistake that took someone’s life.
“He wanted to live and enjoy his life, and it was taken away from him, brutally, in a horrible, horrible accident,” he said.
Duncan is set to be released in 2020, but that could all change in September, when the clemency board meets in Tallahassee.
Channel 9 asked the Governor’s Office why the case will get a hearing.
A spokesperson said she’s looking into that question but needs more time to get an answer.
The hearing is set for Sept. 21.
The victim’s family plans to be in attendance.