Interlock pics catch DWI cheats

Interlock pics catch DWI cheats

Photos show who blows into mouthpiece

Convicted drunk drivers will find beating the system to be more difficult now that ignition interlocks come equipped with cameras.

Judges in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court in Albuquerque will now start ordering some drunk drivers to use the camera-equipped devices.

The devices require someone convicted of DWI to blow into a mouthpiece to confirm they have not consumed alcohol before the ignition can be started.

Traditional interlock devices have been successful in ensuring most people with a history of DWI don't get behind the wheel drunk again, according to the state. However many of them have found ways around it often getting friends or family to blow into the interlock.

The camera device doesn't allow that. It takes a picture of the person who blows into it and then downloads the picture and information on blood alcohol level, so that judges, attorneys and others can see it.

That assures the correct person is behind the wheel.

Metro Court Chief Judge Judith Nakamura said the interlock cameras will not be required for everyone. A judge will have the discretion in which cases to order them, she said.

Unfortunately, Nakamura added, the cameras are necessary for many defendants.

"There are always people who are going to try and beat the system, and it's certainly important to use this tool with those folks," she said. "Ideally it would be great to have a police officer or probation officer following people convicted of crimes around.

"That's not possible, so for those who are trying to cheat in this manner, this is a great tool to have."

At this point the state is against making the cameras mandatory. State officials said in most cases the current interlocks are efficient, which is why they are leaving the decision up to a judge. 

Using the camera interlock costs the driver an extra $1 a day. Offenders are responsible for paying for the device, but if they can't afford it there are state funds to help.

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Pivotal DWI figure set for parole

Pivotal DWI figure set for parole

Christmas Eve crash killed mother, daughters.

The drunken driver who wiped out most of a family 16 years ago and spurred the cause of DWI reform in New Mexico will soon be back on the streets.

Gordon House of Thoreau, convicted of four counts of vehicular homicide, has now served 11 years of his 22-year sentence. The state Parole Board meeting Friday is expected to set the conditions for his release next month.

"Gordon House could spend the rest of his life in jail," Paul Cravens told KRQE News 13 Thursday. "It wouldn't bring Mel and the girls back to me."

On Christmas Eve 1992 an intoxicated House driving his pickup truck east in the westbound lanes of Interstate 40 slammed head-on into the Cravens' family on Albuquerque's West Side. Melanie Cravens and her daughters Kandyce, 9, Erin, 8, and Kacee Woodard, 5, died at the scene.

Husband and father Paul Cravens survived with serious injuries.

"I always miss Melanie and the girls," Cravens said Thursday. "It's been 16 years since they got killed.

"I pray a lot. I spend a lot of time talking to the Lord."

House's blood-alcohol level was reported to be 0.18, more than twice the current legal limit for presumed intoxication. After two mistrials, a Taos jury convicted him in 1994.

He has now served his time.

"It's completely out of our control that the state of New Mexico has laws that apply to the length of the sentence and the application of good time," Parole Board Director Ella Frank said. "We must follow the law."

Cravens said he's forgiven House and takes some comfort that his family's death may have saved countless other lives.

"If he's done his time then he really needs to get a chance to get out, live his life, enjoy his family united and move forward," Cravens said.

After the tragedy Cravens' mother in law Nadine Milford became a tireless activist fighting for and achieving tougher DWI laws. Those included lowering the legal level of intoxication and requiring ignition interlocks for first-time offenders.

Contacted by News 13 she said she was emotional to talk saying didn't expect House to be released this soon.

Cravens said he is grateful for Milford and her work but added the time is right.

"And I just think about Mel and the girls and how much fun we had to together, and I kind of think that they're up there looking at this and enjoying themselves walking with the Lord."

Frank said the parole board on Friday will order the strictest terms of release for House in the beginning for the safety of the community and to help him readjust to life on the outside.

House is expected to be on parole for two years and probation for three more.

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5 years in prison for DWI crash

5 years in prison for DWI crash

The 2006 hit-run accident maimed a woman.  Her family said the sentence was too light.

MAYS LANDING, N.J. - A postal worker lost both her legs, her eyesight and normal brain function 21/2 years ago when a drunken driver slammed into her, pinning her between her mail truck and his vehicle. 

Maureen DePrince's independence was gone. Not long afterward, so was her marriage. 

Yesterday, the man who admitted driving while drunk and sleepy before he smashed into her was sentenced in Superior Court to five years in prison, although he could be released sooner for good behavior. 

Allen Henry Miller, 31, of Schenectady, N.Y., pleaded guilty in December to aggravated assault and drunken driving in connection with the July 2006 crash in Ventnor. 

Miller had been out partying and drinking at nightclubs on July 23. The next morning, he sluggishly got into a car to drive a friend home. His blood alcohol level at the time was 0.083, just above New Jersey's legal definition of drunken driving of 0.08. 

"I was getting tired, fatigued," he said. "I should have pulled over, but I didn't. I said to myself, 'I can make it.' " 

The crash pinned DePrince, then 38, severing one of her legs; the other had to be amputated at a hospital. The Buena Vista Township resident also lost her eyesight due to shock and severe blood loss. 

Miller ran from the scene but was apprehended soon afterward. Authorities say a passing volunteer firefighter spotted DePrince's crumpled, bleeding body and started first aid, probably saving her life. 

Before he was sentenced, Miller apologized to DePrince, who sat in a wheelchair surrounded by sobbing family members. 

"I never meant for this to happen," he said. "If I could change places with her, yes, I would. I hope one day she forgives me. I'm very sorry. I wish I could change it, but I can't." 

A member of the prosecutor's office read a statement on DePrince's behalf just before Miller was sentenced. 

"I will never be able to see my loved ones again, never feel the sand on my feet as I walk along the beach, hand in hand with my husband, watching our dog frolic in the water, chasing his stick," DePrince wrote. "My memories are all I have left, but sometimes they appear cloudy due to the brain trauma I suffered. 

"How do you go on with your life? I have been robbed of everything I held dear," she wrote. "Now I must face the future knowing that my marriage has failed, and I didn't want to become a burden to my family and everyone I love.

" . . . I hope you never have to feel the pain and suffering I have to endure each day of my life." 

The plea agreement Miller reached with prosecutors calls for him to receive credit for the 21/2 years he has spent in jail since the crash. He could be released in about two years. 

DePrince's family was infuriated by the sentence. 

"Five years in jail, and my daughter's life is totally destroyed," DePrince's father, Joe Buscher, said. "She'll never have some of the things he'll be enjoying in jail. The courts and laws of this state have to do more to make this more of a punishment." 

Judge Michael Donio said the crash was "the most horrific" he had ever seen that did not involve a death. 

"People who get behind the wheel of an automobile after drinking, they have to know it's like having a gun in your hand," he said. "It could go off."

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Teen charged with DWI

Teen charged with DWI in crash seriously injuring one

A 17-year-old is facing DWI charges and another teen has serious head injuries after a crash in Ontario County. Ontario County Sheriffs said 17-year-old Dylan Jobson from Honeoye was driving on County Road 36 in Canadice around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when he lost control on the ice-covered road.

Jobson's car went off the road and hit a tree along the passenger side. Jobson suffered cuts to his hands and was taken toF.F. Thompson Hospitalin Canandaigua where he was treated and released. Jobson had two passengers and both were taken toStrong Hospitalfor head injuries.

Police said 17-year-old Austin White, from Hemlock, was riding in the front seat. He was not wearing his seatbelt and suffered a serious head injury. Police said he was unconscious when they arrived on scene. He is in the Intensive Care Unit at Strong.

Kelly Hoertz, 17 from Honeoye, was riding in the backseat. She had face and head injuries. Police are not sure if she was wearing her seatbelt. Hoertz was taken to F.F. Thompson and then transferred to Strong for treatment of her head injury.

Jobson was charged with driving while intoxicated, unsafe speed and driving after 9 p.m. on a DJ license.

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Williamson County jailers trained to draw blood in DWI cases

Williamson County jailers trained to draw blood in DWI cases

At midnight Wednesday morning, Williamson County jailers got the power to draw blood. It's been nearly two years since the county started drawing blood in felony DWI arrests. 

"We're not talking about your first offenders -- these are serious repeat offenders for DWI," said John Foster, Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. 

Repeat offenders include the drunk driver who killed Justin Teague, 19, in 2003. His mother, Terri, now fights for victims' rights. 

"It infuriates me that people think it's all right to get behind the wheel and drink and drive and that there's no consequences to their actions," said Terri Teague. 

Teague supports any method of catching a drunk driver. 

Until Wednesday morning, deputies had to wait for nurses at nearby hospitals to draw a blood sample. The policy sometimes meant a long delay and inaccurate blood alcohol readings. Some hospitals in the Austin area have recently refused to perform the blood draws. 

"It's become apparent that hospitals really don't want to become involved in these types of blood draws. In respect to that, we went out and we're going to do it ourselves," said Foster. 

The county sent three of its EMT jailers through at least four weeks of training to become certified phlebotomists. The jailers -- one for each shift -- will now draw blood from suspected felony drunk drivers directly from the Williamson County Jail infirmary. 

Williamson County isn't the first jurisdiction to take emergency rooms out of the equation. Several states, including Arizona and Utah, already have officers drawing blood. 

"There's been a gradual erosion of people's rights to privacy," said Jerry Smith, criminal defense lawyer. 

Smith believes the new policy is trouble. 

"The blood tests themselves are going to come under closer scrutiny in the courtroom procedures now. (The county required) minimal training though for these (jailers) and jail settings are notoriously unsanitary," said Smith. 

For victims of drunk drivers like Teague, it's a risk worth taking. 

"I would rather see a nurse do it, but I also know that time is of an essence and it needs to be done as soon as possible," said Teague. 

The county expects to train more jailers in the future.

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Canandaigua supervisor 'fell down to the ground'

DWI hearing: Canandaigua supervisor 'fell down to the ground'

The officer who arrested Canandaigua Town Supervisor Lloyd Kinnear for driving while intoxicated testified in court this morning that when he arrived on the scene Sept. 5 he smelled alcohol on Kinnear’s breath and that when Kinnear got out of his vehicle he had trouble keeping his balance.

“He fell down to the ground and got back up,” said Ontario County Deputy Sheriff Stanley Sutton in state Supreme Court.

Kinnear was subsequently indicted on charges of felony DWI. Since Kinnear had an earlier DWI conviction within 10 years of his latest arrest, state law requires that he automatically be charged with a felony. If convicted, Kinnear would have to step down from his supervisor job.

Sutton described what happened about 11:30 p.m. Sept. 5 when he was called to the scene and found Kinnear’s Mazda off the road.

During a pretrial hearing about whether there was probable cause to make an arrest, Sutton told how Kinnear had slurred speech and how Kinnear was given various sobriety tests on the scene. 

“He swayed throughout (one) test,” Sutton said. 

Justice Thomas Van Strydonck found that there was probable cause for arrest.

The trial is slated for April 20.

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DWI luncheon salutes officers

DWI luncheon salutes officers      

WAMPSVILLE — On Wednesday, area law enforcement officers were celebrated for their 2008 DWI arrests at the 21st Annual STOP DWI luncheon at New Beginnings Church.

A number of officers from several local agencies received plaques for the amount of DWI arrests they made in their respective jurisdictions. George Cameron, a State Trooper who works out of the Sullivan Field Office, won the prestigious Karl Taylor award for his 38 DWI arrests in 2008, the most for one officer in Madison County.

“It’s an honor,” Cameron said of receiving the award named for a Madison County Deputy Sheriff who was responsible for making 950 DWI arrests during his 21 year career. Taylor passed away in March 2000 and since that year, the award has been given out to honor his legacy.

Cameron is a first-time winner of the award. In a year’s time, Cameron said that he made 28 arrests in Madison County and 10 others in Oneida and Onondaga Counties. He has been on the force for four years and thinks that holding the luncheon is a good idea.

“I think it’s important, if nothing else, to just remind us why we’re out there, making DWI arrests and the importance of it,” Cameron said.

A number of important people in the community also came out for the event, including Board of Supervisors member Paul Miller, Criminal Justice, Public Safety and Telecommunications Committee Chair Darrin Ball, Madison County Court Judge Dennis McDermott, Susan Jenkins of BRiDGES/MCCASA and James Yonai of Madison County Mental Health Department.

Madison County District Attorney Bill Gabor spoke at the event, recalling his stint as a STOP DWI prosecutor in Madison County from 1985 to 1989. He noted that there were 383 DWI arrests and no fatal DWI accidents in Madison County last year, the latter of which he called a “tremendous statistic.”

“It’s an unbelievable job that you do,” he told those in attendance.

The keynote speaker was retired Madison County STOP DWI Coordinator Doug Lippert, who reflected on his experience with the program, as well as his past career as a State Trooper and the DWI arrests he made at that time.

“DWI is definitely not an enjoyable arrest to make,” Lippert said, which is why the luncheon was started 21 years ago, to thank law enforcement for their commitment to safety in the community.

Lippert said that since 1982, when the program began, that the DWI problem has been “partially solved,” as roads in this county and throughout New York have become statistically safer to drive. He also thanked law enforcers, educators and others in the community for the progress that has been made.

“We have given a unified message to the public that DWI is not acceptable,” he said.

Steve Goodfriend has replaced Lippert as the STOP DWI coordinator, but the two stay in contact, Lippert said. He now serves as public safety commissioner of Oneida.

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