Leah Van Norman, a Vicksburg woman sentenced in August to 10 years in prison for a drunken-driving wreck, has filed a petition to have her sentence reduced.

Van Norman, 29, who lived at 8214 Fisher Ferry Road, pleaded guilty Aug. 19 in Warren County Circuit Court to aggravated DUI and causing bodily injury to former police Lt. Todd McBroom on June 24, 2007.

Both Van Norman and Mc-Broom were injured in the 4:30 a.m. wreck, and both have undergone multiple surgeries since.

McBroom, 58, said he opposes any reduction of Van Norman’s sentence. “She needs to serve what the court gave her,” he said today.

Van Norman’s plea was heard and the sentence imposed by Holmes County Circuit Court Judge Jannie Lewis after both local circuit court judges, Isadore Patrick and M. James Chaney, recused themselves.

The document filed Monday requests Van Norman’s penalty be reduced to time served or that she be placed in the Mississippi Department of Corrections Intensive Supervision Program, also called house arrest.

No hearing date has been set, but the case will be brought back before Lewis, said Van Norman’s attorney, Robin L. Roberts of the Hattiesburg firm Montague, Pittman and Varnado.

As of Thursday afternoon, Lewis had not yet received a copy of the petition, said her court administrator, Modora Gordon. The judge will schedule a hearing when she does, Gordon said.

It was not clear whether the hearing would be held in Warren County Circuit Court, Holmes County or near the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl where Van Norman has been incarcerated since Aug. 31.

The petition states that Van Norman’s medical condition was unstable at her sentencing and has since deteriorated further. She has a dislocated hip and needs surgery, the petition states.

In addition, it claims Van Norman meets a number of criteria for the house arrest program, including that she is a low-risk, first-time offender; her crime was “the result of negligence, not intentional violence”; she is the mother of two children; and she has completed rehabilitation for drugs and alcohol and is at “very low risk” for repeat offense.

Roberts said Van Norman has not been able to get the medical care she needs. He blamed budget cuts for MDOC along with many other agencies and departments that receive state money.

If placed under house arrest, however, Van Norman would still be under the custody of MDOC. Roberts said they hoped she would qualify for Medicaid to cover her medical bills since she is disabled. “That’s an issue we’ll have to explore at that time,” he said.

At the time of the wreck, McBroom was working as a security guard at the Engineer Research and Development Center. He was driving on Halls Ferry Road making early-morning rounds when Van Norman’s car crossed the center line and collided head-on with his.

Blood tests showed Van Norman’s blood alcohol level was .18, more than twice the legal limit of .08, Warren County District Attorney Ricky Smith said after Van Norman’s sentencing.

Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com