wow, this is crap!
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 410
Likes: 2
From: New Orleans, LA
It is sad how the judges and politicians work the system. I am in law enforcement and I do a lot of DWI arrests, its what I enjoy the most. I see it so much when I go to court. The defendant blew a BAC of .200 or .250 or .134 etc and when he goes to court, they reduce the BAC to a lower number, therefore allowing him to avoid jail time, and then give him 180 days, suspends 173 of them and then the final 7 are unsupervised probation. If you don’t know, based on your BAC determines what length of jail sentence you will face. Hence why they reduce the BAC. It’s sad. They do this for first and second offense. In Louisiana 3rd offense is a Felony. I have yet to go to court for a Felony one, but I will not be surprised when I do go and they reduce it like they do for 1st and 2nd. It's the same thing for so many other crimes. They reduce the crime down and then that allows a lesser sentence and in return less or no jail time. As a police man, it can be discouraging to make the arrests and then have the judge slap you (the cop) in the face by reducing the crime so the defendant can avoid jail time. I don’t let it discourage me because I know by me arresting them for the night, they will not kill once of my fellow officers sitting at the red light, my family or some innocent person coming home from work. On the other hand, I know of many officers that have made DWI arrests, gone to court and seen the outcome and get discouraged and say why waste my time when its not going to go anywhere when it gets to court. As we all know, the drunk driver walks away without a scratch and the innocent person leaves in a body bag. If they start sticking to what the criminal code books tell you, these crimes that are committed by “everyday” people would go down. People would reconsider driving a vehicle when they know they can’t walk straight, are tripping over themselves, etc when they know if they get caught, they WILL face jail time. I know that some people will still do it regardless and have the mentality of you have to catch me, but I believe it will reduce a lot. My personal opinion is 1stOffense, your jail time is the time you spend in booking and processing and you will have the classes and community services that goes along with the suspended sentence. Everybody deserves a chance to redeem themselves because we all make mistakes. Second offense you are spending some nights in jail plus the fines, fees and community service. It amazes me when I arrest people for 4th or 5th offense and their driver’s license is still valid. Sorry for my rant, but it’s just something that I take very personal and I wish more people would understand how serious of a crime DWI is. I have been lucky and have not had to deal with the loss of a family member from a drunk driver, but I have seen the damage that is done when somebody is drunk or intoxicated and driving on several occasions. All it will take is for a judge or politician to have their family member killed by a drunk driver for them to start throwing the books at them. Rank is over!
Last edited by Bruin08; Mar 5, 2014 at 04:49 AM.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 4,933
Likes: 11
From: Kentucky
http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.c...ase/?id=161083
SIOUX FALLS, SD - A man who admitted to texting while driving before a crash that killed a motorcyclist is sentenced to time in prison.
Brent O'Neal pleaded guilty to manslaughter in December in the death of 33-year-old Philip Sorensen. O'Neal admitted he was texting and driving when he hit three vehicles, a motorcycle and a light pole at the intersection of 26th Street and Minnesota Avenue in July 2012.
During a sentencing hearing Tuesday afternoon, Judge Mark Salter heard from attorneys on both sides, along with Sorensen's family members and O'Neal himself.
Salter sentenced O'Neal to 20 years in the penitentiary with 11 suspended. He estimates O'Neal will serve half of the nine years.
O'Neal must also pay $10,000 in restitution.
douchebag kid, going 20 miles over the speed limit texting and driving, kills a well liked biker, get's 4.5 years. **** him.
SIOUX FALLS, SD - A man who admitted to texting while driving before a crash that killed a motorcyclist is sentenced to time in prison.
Brent O'Neal pleaded guilty to manslaughter in December in the death of 33-year-old Philip Sorensen. O'Neal admitted he was texting and driving when he hit three vehicles, a motorcycle and a light pole at the intersection of 26th Street and Minnesota Avenue in July 2012.
During a sentencing hearing Tuesday afternoon, Judge Mark Salter heard from attorneys on both sides, along with Sorensen's family members and O'Neal himself.
Salter sentenced O'Neal to 20 years in the penitentiary with 11 suspended. He estimates O'Neal will serve half of the nine years.
O'Neal must also pay $10,000 in restitution.
douchebag kid, going 20 miles over the speed limit texting and driving, kills a well liked biker, get's 4.5 years. **** him.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,059
Likes: 4
From: Florida
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 742
Likes: 1
From: Down South Jukin'
We only have ourselves to blame. It is us that keep electing, then re-electing these self-serving politicians. Our lawmakers, who write laws to protect the criminals and fill their pockets with money defending them.
And these are not accidents, they are collisions. The reports are titled collision reports.
It'll never get better, as we look to condem the driver of the cage, but support and make excuses for the biker that does the same thing.
And these are not accidents, they are collisions. The reports are titled collision reports.
It'll never get better, as we look to condem the driver of the cage, but support and make excuses for the biker that does the same thing.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Southern Oregon
It is sad how the judges and politicians work the system. I am in law enforcement and I do a lot of DWI arrests, its what I enjoy the most. I see it so much when I go to court. The defendant blew a BAC of .200 or .250 or .134 etc and when he goes to court, they reduce the BAC to a lower number, therefore allowing him to avoid jail time, and then give him 180 days, suspends 173 of them and then the final 7 are unsupervised probation. If you dont know, based on your BAC determines what length of jail sentence you will face. Hence why they reduce the BAC. Its sad. They do this for first and second offense. In Louisiana 3rd offense is a Felony. I have yet to go to court for a Felony one, but I will not be surprised when I do go and they reduce it like they do for 1st and 2nd. It's the same thing for so many other crimes. They reduce the crime down and then that allows a lesser sentence and in return less or no jail time. As a police man, it can be discouraging to make the arrests and then have the judge slap you (the cop) in the face by reducing the crime so the defendant can avoid jail time. I dont let it discourage me because I know by me arresting them for the night, they will not kill once of my fellow officers sitting at the red light, my family or some innocent person coming home from work. On the other hand, I know of many officers that have made DWI arrests, gone to court and seen the outcome and get discouraged and say why waste my time when its not going to go anywhere when it gets to court. As we all know, the drunk driver walks away without a scratch and the innocent person leaves in a body bag. If they start sticking to what the criminal code books tell you, these crimes that are committed by everyday people would go down. People would reconsider driving a vehicle when they know they cant walk straight, are tripping over themselves, etc when they know if they get caught, they WILL face jail time. I know that some people will still do it regardless and have the mentality of you have to catch me, but I believe it will reduce a lot. My personal opinion is 1stOffense, your jail time is the time you spend in booking and processing and you will have the classes and community services that goes along with the suspended sentence. Everybody deserves a chance to redeem themselves because we all make mistakes. Second offense you are spending some nights in jail plus the fines, fees and community service. It amazes me when I arrest people for 4th or 5th offense and their drivers license is still valid. Sorry for my rant, but its just something that I take very personal and I wish more people would understand how serious of a crime DWI is. I have been lucky and have not had to deal with the loss of a family member from a drunk driver, but I have seen the damage that is done when somebody is drunk or intoxicated and driving on several occasions. All it will take is for a judge or politician to have their family member killed by a drunk driver for them to start throwing the books at them. Rank is over!