Johnathan Pratt — the man who was convicted of manslaughter in an impaired-driving crash that killed three young men in Beaumont — is appealing that conviction, saying he wasn’t well-represented by his lawyer.
Pratt was found guilty of three counts of manslaughter and impaired driving causing death in the 2011 crash, which killed Bradley Arsenault, 18, Thaddeus Lake, 22 and Kole Novak, 18.
He was sentenced to eight years.
Last week, Pratt filed an appeal of both the conviction and the sentence he received.
He is seeking a new trial, saying he was not served by his counsel.
“I was blindly lead into courtroom having no indication by lawyer that I was to make pleas [sic],” Pratt wrote.
He also says his lawyer did not properly inform him of court proceedings and did not share details of the case.
Zane Novak, father of Kole Novak, says he was disappointed to hear about the appeal.
“That’s heartbreaking,” Novak said.
“He is the type of individual that takes no ownership for his actions. Even in court, he refused to say sorry. He just said it was an unfortunate set of circumstances.”
Pratt did not apologize to the families in court, but a pre-sentencing report noted that he did show remorse.
No decision has been made yet to if Pratt will receive a new trial.
