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A jury that found a Mercer County doctor guilty of second-degree manslaughter Tuesday night in the death of his wife recommended a sentence of five years in the case Wednesday.

The jury found Dr. Steven Hall guilty of second degree manslaughter at about 11:20 p.m. Tuesday after deliberating for almost 11 hours. They deliberated the sentence for less than an hour.

Hall was on trial for murder after he ran over his wife, Isabel, with a pontoon boat on Herrington Lake in May 2009. Hall admitted running over his wife during the anniversary outing, but insists he didn't mean to kill her, just scare her. The Commonwealth Attorney used the confession to bolster the case. Defense attorneys pointed to Hall sons, who said it was an accident.

Hall's attorney, Steve Romines, says he's not happy with the decision, but he knows the outcome could have been a lot worse. Instead of life in prison, Hall faced a sentence of up to 10 years behind bars.

"I've been doing it long enough that I respect the jury's decision. That was their honestly held belief. But just keep fighting. We'll come back tomorrow for sentencing and we'll - you know - keep fighting the case," Romines said.

Formal sentencing for Hall will be on October 5.