A judge gave a top-of-the-range sentence to a 49-year-old Langley resident who was found guilty of vehicular assault after a confused jury initially said she wasn’t guilty.

Island County Superior Court Judge Alan Hancock sentenced Patricia Sylvester Nov. 23 to three months in jail, which is the maximum under the standard sentencing range.

Hancock also ordered Sylvester to pay $500 in crime victim assessment. Restitution was reserved to a future hearing.

Sylvester went on trial in October on a vehicular assault charge in connection with a head-on collision on Cultus Bay Road on South Whidbey Oct. 3, 2008, that left a man with a collapsed lung and three fractured ribs.

Clinton resident Michael Nichols wrote a victim impact statement describing the accident, his injuries and the devastating impact it has had on his ability to make a living.

He explained that his greatest fear is losing his home.

“I feel trapped by the circumstance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he wrote. “And what’s really scary, I don’t see a way out.”

In the trial, the jury initially came back with a verdict of not guilty. But then Hancock polled the jurors individually, as the defense attorney had requested before the jury was brought in.

The first juror said she didn’t agree with the verdict, which was when the confusion set in. The judge sent the jury out, discussed the matter with the attorneys, then brought the jury back in and told them they are supposed to reach a consensus.

The jury deliberated for several more hours and returned a verdict of guilty.

Jurors later told the attorneys that they misunderstood an instruction regarding the necessity of a unanimous decision. They thought that the jury must find the defendant “not guilty” if they don’t have a unanimous decision.

In fact, the jury is supposed to deliberate toward a unanimous verdict; if a verdict absolutely can’t be reached, then the judge may declare a mistrial and the prosecution may try the case again.