" I'm so very sorry for all the pain I've caused you." A tearful Melissa Newman apologized to a Charleston man for running him down drunk on Capital Street a year ago. B-J Berkhouse is still wheelchair-bound and spent 3 weeks in a coma after she ran him over on a downtown sidewalk.

Newman's lawyer argued against locking up the mother of 3 and claimed her designated driver had let her down-- and let the Sissonville woman get behind the wheel stoned on booze and pills. She has a prior DUI conviction.

The judge sentenced her to a year in jail and two years home confinement. Berkhouse wanted her locked up for the 3 years the law allows. Berkhouse says he's got the life sentence with a brain injury.