BY KEITH EPPS
A man who drove away in his badly beaten friend's Hummer after leaving him lying on State Route 3 was sentenced yesterday to six years in prison.
Jason Paul Woods, 30, had already been convicted of unlawful wounding and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
His former friend, Jeffrey Martens, was unconscious and shirtless when witnesses saw him on Route 3 near Central Park early Dec. 12, 2006.
Martens, who has since moved out of the area, has been through nine surgeries since the beating and has permanent injuries. He testified at an earlier hearing that he has no recollection of the beating.
However, other witnesses saw Woods pummeling Martens that morning.
Judge Gordon Willis gave Woods the same sentence a jury recommended when it convicted Woods in November.
Defense attorney Jim Ilijevich tried to persuade Willis to suspend all or some of the sentence, but Willis would not.
Ilijevich even tried to get Woods, who is almost 31, into a program for teenagers instead of serving prison time.
According to evidence presented at trial, Woods and Martens were part of a group of friends who spent the evening drinking and partying in Washington and Northern Virginia.
Their last stop was the Russia House in Washington, where members of the group drank vodka and beer.
Martens and his wife had a disagreement toward the end of the night and she refused to ride home with him.
Woods drove Martens in the Hummer while Julie Martens rode back to the Fredericksburg area with someone else.
Woods, who had a prior criminal record, and his girlfriend testified that Martens was out of control, at one point taking off his clothes and chasing cars.
By the time they got to Fredericksburg, Woods said Martens had climbed over the seat and was choking him.
Commonwealth's Attorney LaBravia Jenkins argued that even if Martens was unruly, Woods went way past simply defending himself.
Witnesses said they saw Martens punched and kicked between 18 and 20 times.
Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
Email: kepps@freelancestar.com