Howard Gordon Wife Sentenced to Community Service for Vehicular Manslaug

The wife of 24 creator Howard Gordon has been sentenced to community service after pleading no contest to a misdemeanour charge for vehicular manslaughter.

Cambria Gordon was distracted by a fallen cell phone while driving in Santa Monica, California last summer (Jul11) when she hit an 83-year-old pedestrian, who later died.

She was initially charged with manslaughter with gross negligence, but struck a deal with prosecutors and the count was reduced to misdemeanour vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, according to TMZ.com.

Gordon was not in court for sentencing on Wednesday (08Feb12), but expressed her "deep sorrow and sincere remorse" over the accident in a letterread out by her lawyer, Blair Berk.

She stated, "Not a day has gone by since July 20, 2011 that I haven't thought about and prayed for Mr Smerling (the dead pedestrian) and his family. Although I cannot presume to ask for forgiveness, I only hope that the Smerling family understands how immeasurably sorry I am".

A California judge then sentenced Gordon to 360 hours of community workand placed her on 36 months of informal probation.

Gordon is also facing a civil suit from the Smerling family.