FRENCH VALLEY -- A judge reduced the jail term of a Lake Elsinore woman whose drunken driving accident killed a motorcyclist, saying that two years in state prison was excessive for a remorseful, first-time offender.

Judge James Warren on Wednesday resentenced Sherri Ann Smith, 43, to a year in Riverside County jail with credit for five months already served. She is to remain on probation for five years, a condition not in the original sentence.

Earlier this year, Smith pleaded guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, agreeing with prosecutors to a two-year sentence. She could have faced as much as 6 years, 8 months in prison. Warren passed the sentence at a hearing March 10.

But Warren later decided the punishment was too harsh. Smith had no criminal record and completed a state program for first-time, drunken-driving offenders before her sentencing, he noted Wednesday.

"I've sent hundreds of people to state prison," Warren said. "This was a case that continued to stick with me. It was a case that continued to prey on my mind and my conscience. It was a case that I literally prayed about."

State law allows judges to reduce sentences in this way within 120 days after the initial sentencing, but many involved in the case acknowledged that such moves are rare. Warren's motion last month for the new hearing provoked anger and dismay from the victim's family.

Kerry Suglia, 52, died June 4, 2005, when Smith's Chevrolet Blazer crossed the center line on the two-lane Ortega Highway west of Lake Elsinore and struck his motorcycle head-on.

Smith was returning from the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival. Two hours after the crash, her blood alcohol level was measured at 0.11 percent, 0.03 percentage points above the legal level of 0.08 percent.

Sheryl Suglia, who was sitting behind her husband on the bike, lost most of her left leg. She attended Wednesday's hearing in a wheelchair, along with more than a dozen family members, two motorcycle activists and several other supporters.

Outside Southwest Justice Center after the hearing, Suglia had harsh words for Warren. She pointed to her prosthetic leg and her scarred left arm, which she said she's still building back to full strength.

"He's letting this woman out," Suglia said. "He can't guarantee anybody that she's not going to go out there and do it again."

"Worse than that is the message he's sending out to all the other people out there who are thinking about doing the same thing," said her son Jeremy Popoff.

Suglia and her husband lived in Lake Elsinore. Unable to walk unassisted, she has since moved to Fullerton to be closer to her two sons.

Smith is expected to return briefly to state prison before being transferred to a Riverside County jail in Riverside or Banning, according to her attorney, John Pozza. She could be released by early January if she gets credit for good behavior, Pozza said. Her sentence includes 300 hours of community service and yet-to-be specified financial restitution for the victims.

Both the initial two-year sentence and the revised one-year term plus probation are typical for a first-time offender who pleas vehicular manslaughter, Pozza said.

In the hearing, Pozza said nothing other than the occasional "no" when Warren asked if he had objections or additional statements. The hearing played out almost as a debate between Warren and prosecutor Dan Detienne, who seemed to grow increasingly exasperated.

"What happened between March 10 and May 31 that makes (you) feel that state prison is no longer appropriate?" Detienne asked Warren. "Apparently, your decision is being driven by other cases that have come before you (since March) that I know nothing about and that aren't in the record."

Detienne argued that a resentencing would cause more grief for Kerry Suglia's family, who began in March to rebuild their lives. Warren rejected that argument, saying the "mistake" in March was his own and that Smith shouldn't be punished for it.

Warren also rebuffed Detienne in numerous attempts to introduce more testimony. The judge refused to admit letters from Mothers Against Drunk Driving into the court record, saying that such "lobbying organizations" lack direct ties to the case at hand.

The judge and prosecutor also fell into a protracted argument Wednesday when Warren indicated he wouldn't allow Sheryl Suglia to testify. Warren said Detienne didn't convince him that she would be able to offer anything beyond her testimony during the original sentencing proceedings.

That prompted Jeremy Popoff to lead the rest of Sheryl Suglia's family out of the second-floor courtroom. As the hearing continued, they gathered on the outdoor concrete plaza below.

Contact staff writer Chris Bagley at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2615, or cbagley@californian.com.