A 22-year-old woman who would have likely faced probation will instead serve two years in prison after posting pictures of herself on the Internet drinking just months after causing the death of her best friend in a drunk driving accident.

Lara Buys, right, waits for her sentencing Friday in Santa Barbara Superior Court. Photo by Melissa Evans / SBN

Binkerd pleaded no contest on Jan. 12 to charges of felony vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol. She received a five-year prison sentence.

Buys wept silently at the brief hearing, but didn’t speak. No witnesses were called; District Attorney Darryl Perlin and Buys’ attorney, Rachel Solomon, had reached agreement on the sentence before the hearing.

“I hope things work out for you,” Judge Clifford Anderson said to Buys just before bailiffs escorted her out of the courtroom. “Once you get through this tough part, I hope you get things back together.”

The accident occurred Aug. 31, 2006, while Buys and her passengers -- Jenny Robison-Smith, 29, and Robison-Smith’s two young children -- were driving south from the Sacramento area. Buys lost control of her 2002 Ford Expedition at about 1:25 a.m. near Los Carneros Road on Highway 101.

Robison-Smith was killed in the accident; her two children, ages 6 and 6 months, were not seriously injured.

A few months later, witnesses -- including the victim’s brother -- said they saw Buys out at bars drunk. She posted a picture of herself on the popular Web site, MySpace.com, holding a glass of wine.

Perlin also presented excerpts from some of the comments she posted to a friend a few months ago on the site, one of which read: “My favorite memory would have been on my birthday one year and you got hammered drinking Jack and ran home to throw up and ended up passed out, good times, good times!!”

Solomon said Buys accepting her sentence was a good way of taking responsibility for what happened. In response to the MySpace.com comments, she said her client “was in shock, just like people go numb after any kind of shocking event. I don’t think she knew how to process everything that was going on in a productive way.”

Perlin said the Internet is becoming a new tool for prosecutors. Before it would have been difficult to prove what suspects were thinking, or if they were remorseful, after an accident such as this.

Because of her pictures and written statements, “It is clear this defendant didn’t get it,” he said.

The outcome closely resembled the case of Binkerd, who also posted MySpace.com photos that showed her drinking soon after her passenger, Alex Baer, died last year. Binkerd received prison time despite testimony on her behalf from the victim’s mother.

The judge was reportedly not convinced of her remorse.

In the Buys case, the victim's husband, parents and siblings all said in court documents that she should serve jail time. "She should be punished to the fullest extent of the law," Jayson Brauning, the victim's brother, said in court documents.

Buys admitted to authorities she had been drinking since she was 15. The 6-year-old riding in the car testified that she believed Buys was drinking vodka from a cup while driving. Her blood-alcohol level about an hour after the accident was .11.

In court documents, Perlin wondered why Buys didn’t apologize to the family of Robison-Smith, including the victim’s husband. He also suggested she should have warned others against the dangers of drinking and driving, or entered into an alcohol rehabilitation program.

It is an unfortunate case, Solomon agreed -- particularly because Buys has a 3-year-old son.

"This is a tragedy,” she said. “(Buys) also lost her best friend.”

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