WI Drunk Driving Sentencing:Rant Ahead

[yoopermom]

Here's the link:
http://ehextra.com/main.asp?SectionID=12&SubSectionID=35&ArticleID=7455&TM=58555.48

This happened about 40 miles from me, a man with a history of drinking and driving, with a blood alcohol level of .238, driving 77 in a 45 mph zone, on snow covered roads, killed a family (father, two teenage pregnant daughters, and two other kids). Sentencing just came out:

25 years which can be reduced to 19!! So he'll be 59, at most when he gets out. I grew up in WI, and I am ashamed of how lax its drunk driving sentences are "This is the most people ever killed by a single drunken driver since the (Wisconsin) DOT (Department of Transportation) started keeping records."

What is it going to take to keep people from driving after drinking???

Terri

 

[X and G's mom]

Just sad........ Looks like his first OWI.

 

[hulagirl87]

shocking. 25 years is not nearly long enough for such a monster. I had a friend pass away from a drunk driver hitting her car. He was going 106 mph in a 30 mph zone. He fled the scene but they finally found him and he only got 15 years. Seeing as the guy in this case killed 7 people, his sentence should be much more.

 

[yoopermom]

Just sad........ Looks like his first OWI.

From "talk on the street" (and these are pretty small streets) it might have been his first OWI, but it sure wasn't his first incident of driving while drunk. His "luck just ran out" (grrrrr, to quote the article).

What's really scary was that he was about to turn onto the busiest main drag in the area, in which case he could have easily caused a multicar pileup.

Makes me sick.

Terri

 

[redlight]

.238 isn't just a little buzzed. That's almost comatose.

 

[doxdogy]

My nephew was nailed last year for DUI and he was sentenced to six years. He fled from the police and they had to use stop sticks. The fact that he had a DUI and felony feeling is the reason for the six years. It is the felony fleeing that bumped it up to six years and not the DUI. Personally, I think DUI is a heinous crime and should be dealt with harshly.

 

[yoopermom]

.238 isn't just a little buzzed. That's almost comatose.

The article says it's equal to 18 beers. The picture of the guy shows him to be pretty stout/stocky, but even so...18?!?

Terri

 

[redlight]

The article says it's equal to 18 beers. The picture of the guy shows him to be pretty stout/stocky, but even so...18?!?

Terri

With a stocky guy, it might be more than 18 beers.

 

[Briarmom]

This just makes me angry and sad. That poor family. Imagine planning a funeral for 5 (or 7 if you include the unborn) members of your family.

His sentence is disgusting. People treat drunk driving like it's no big deal because we treat it like no big deal.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

A sad story that doesn't get any better with this man in jail longer. 25 years is a life sentence in most states. It is what you get with concurrent sentencing and no death penalty...

 

[SaraJayne]

There was someone in WI that was just picked up/charged with his 10th OWI or DUI.

 

[Heidict]

Sickening that our justice system hold life in such ill regard. The only positive to this is that you will at least be safe from this monster for the next 19 years. Here's hoping that he won't go back to the same stuff when he gets out and that he would have learned his lesson. Oh, and that their deaths haunt him for the rest of his life.

 

[EMom]

I don't know about your state, but criminals in Texas rarely serve all their sentences for crimes like DWIs. Here, they would serve MAYBE 1/3 to 1/2 of that 25 year sentence and hell would probably freeze over before they got a 25 year sentence. Maybe people actually serve their time where you live. I hope so.

Heaven help a drunk driver if I get on the jury. I'm not walking out until they get the maximum sentence. IMHO, drunk driving is no different than firing a loaded gun into a crowd while blindfolded. The odds are very high you will hurt/kill someone even though you didn't "mean" to. If you care so little for the safety/lives of others, I care little for yours.

 

[N.Bailey]

While I know it's not the popular opinion, there really are no winners in these types of situations. I'm not sure that I'd chalk this guy up to being a monster. He made some horrible choices and it's SO sad that others had to pay for those poor choices. However, as long as he's incarcerated, the taxpayer gets to foot the bill. That makes another entity of people who lose in these tragedies.

These people really could make a difference, if along with a prison sentence, they had to do a lot of community service once released (talking to others about their experience - especially our youth). Lesser sentences combined these types of stipulations could really take a horrific event and make a small contribution for the betterment of society.

Every prison in this nation is overcrowded. We can't even keep child predators behind bars for long (till they kill a child) because of the overcrowding. Again, not a popular opinion, but failing to acknowledge this does nothing to combat the issue when hard choices need to be made. People will shrug and say they just don't care, they want these criminals locked up at any cost. I'd only ask, would you really want that at any cost?

 

[bumbershoot]

I can't even imagine being that drunk. Let alone driving.

Can't argue that he was going crazy-fast in dangerous conditions.

I did notice, though....5 adult-sized people (well, maybe not the 12 year old, so semi-adult sized), with two of the daughters pregnant, in a *compact* car? Is that even possible? Legal? One does wonder about seatbelts when there's a fatal situation like that. One wonders if they were being worn, and if not, what could have been if they had been worn.

 

[CircleofLife]

I can't even imagine being that drunk. Let alone driving.

Can't argue that he was going crazy-fast in dangerous conditions.

I did notice, though....5 adult-sized people (well, maybe not the 12 year old, so semi-adult sized), with two of the daughters pregnant, in a *compact* car? Is that even possible? Legal?One does wonder about seatbelts when there's a fatal situation like that. One wonders if they were being worn, and if not, what could have been if they had been worn.

I know I am new here, but I feel as though I have to respond to this post. As horrified as I am at the outcome to this tragic situation, I have to comment and say that of course it's possible to fit five adults into a compact car, safely and legally. Obviously, it may not be as safe and ideal as fitting five people into an SUV or larger sedan, but many compact cars are built to contain five people, complete with seatbelts.

The article certainly didn't suggest that those in the compact car were not wearing their seatbelts, and also didn't suggest that any of the victims were doing anything other than riding in the car safely. Given the facts in this article, is doesn't seem as though there is any blame on the victims, so where exactly are you going with this, Bumbershoot?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I know I am new here, but I feel as though I have to respond to this post. As horrified as I am at the outcome to this tragic situation, I have to comment and say that of course it's possible to fit five adults into a compact car, safely and legally. Obviously, it may not be as safe and ideal as fitting five people into an SUV or larger sedan, but many compact cars are built to contain five people, complete with seatbelts.

Some accidents are not survivable upon impact no matter what you do.

 

[Art 1]

It would be interesting if the laws made the Judges who let criminals out early responsible for the criminals actions.

For example. If the sentence max sentence is 10 years and they are released in 5, those who let them out early would be responsible for what is done the next 5 years.

 

[EMom]

While I know it's not the popular opinion, there really are no winners in these types of situations. I'm not sure that I'd chalk this guy up to being a monster. He made some horrible choices and it's SO sad that others had to pay for those poor choices. However, as long as he's incarcerated, the taxpayer gets to foot the bill. That makes another entity of people who lose in these tragedies.

These people really could make a difference, if along with a prison sentence, they had to do a lot of community service once released (talking to others about their experience - especially our youth). Lesser sentences combined these types of stipulations could really take a horrific event and make a small contribution for the betterment of society.

Every prison in this nation is overcrowded. We can't even keep child predators behind bars for long (till they kill a child) because of the overcrowding. Again, not a popular opinion, but failing to acknowledge this does nothing to combat the issue when hard choices need to be made. People will shrug and say they just don't care, they want these criminals locked up at any cost. I'd only ask, would you really want that at any cost?

So long as he is in prison, there is one thing I can guarantee you he will NOT do. He will not get behind the wheel and kill more people. That's a big plus to me.

A good many drunk drivers will not stop driving while impaired, even after a conviction. They simply won't. True story, with name changed: I had a friend who had everything in the world going for him. Handsome, most popular guy in his class, came from a good family, every chance at a successful life, etc. Everyone loved this guy. I'll call him Matt.

Matt drove drunk while in his teens and the accident resulted in the death of his best friend. You'd have thought that would have stopped him in his tracks, but no. A few years later, he was driving after kicking back quite a few and mowed down a pedestrian, killing him. He got a conviction for that one, but it was probated with no jail time. Keep in mind, he drove drunk more times than those two, but he just got caught in the two that resulted in fatalities.

What finally stopped him? While still in his 20s, he was involved in one more fatal drunk driving accident. This time, he killed a good friend whose wife was about to have a baby......and himself. It was a particularly gruesome accident. Pretty much everyone who knew him was convinced that had he not died in that wreck, he would have continued to drink and drive.

Sadly, Matt is not that rare a case. If he had been slapped in prison for a few years after he killed the second guy, maybe he'd have changed his ways (a big maybe) and still be alive today. Certainly his passenger from the third fatal DWI would have lived to see his child born.

 

[DisneyMissy318]

I often wonder HOW it is that the drunk driver can be in an accident so horrific to kill an entire family - but only suffers scrapes and bruises - and is alive to go to trial. Is that their first form of punishment - they have to live with what they have done?