I-Team: Current laws aren't slowing down drunken drivers

Web Posted: 02/07/2006 10:30 PM CST
Brandy Ralston
KENS 5 Eyewitness News

They are some of the worst offenders � busted over and over again for driving while intoxicated.

So how is it they still manage to get back behind the wheel of a car and drive?

The KENS 5 I-Team asked that question, and here's what it discovered.

When it comes to drinking and driving, nearly 500 people each month are busted in San Antonio. The I-Team decided to take a closer look at the system, and Bexar County's dirty dozen who drink and drive.

"A person's out there driving a two- to 10-ton vehicle down the roadway, not in control of their mental, physical faculties. It's like pointing a loaded gun at somebody," said Deputy Chief Dennis McKnight, with the Bexar County Jail.

Call it a game of Russian Roulette, whether it's day or night, when you're on our highways, you never really know who decided to drink and then drive.

"Finding DWIs on San Antonio highways on Friday or Saturday night is not a challenge," Judge Tim Johnson said.

But when you take a look at who some of the repeat offenders are, you might ask yourself why.

The I-Team pulled Texas Department of Public Safety records for everyone convicted of a DWI in Bexar, Atascosa, Bandera, Comal and Guadalupe counties � for a total of nearly 8,000 convicted drunken drivers.

In the surrounding counties, the majority of those convicted have one DWI on their record. When you look at Bexar County, however, almost everybody has two or more convictions. Some had four, others had five or six, and after serving time, most of them were once again eligible to drive.

"The way the law is structured, you can't lock them up for that long," Johnson said. "Until they're on their third, fourth or fifth (conviction), and by then, God only knows what happens."

Take for instance Bexar County's worst DWI offender � Ruben Hernandez Martinez. He has a total of nine DWIs, according to records obtained by the I-Team. Now he's out of prison and has moved out of Bexar County, but we checked with the state and unfortunately no one knows if he's back on the road.

The county's second-highest offender, Robert Robles Suarez, already had eight DWIs when he was busted again in December 2005. He's now been sentenced to seven years in prison, but Johnson said chances are, he'll never serve that long.

"If I put a DWI in jail for a year � which is the maximum I can do on a DWI second offense � they're probably gonna get trusty status and they're gonna be out of there in four months or less, and what are you gonna have at the end of those four months?" Judge Johnson asked. "You're gonna have a thirsty drunk."

Johnson said a trusty is a non-violent offender jailers feel isn't a flight risk, and therefore those inmates can get better jobs and reduced sentences.

However, he said that in some cases, those convicted go right back to drinking and driving, and that's when you end up with deadly car accidents.

"The ramifications of what can happen when somebody goes back out on that highway and is intoxicated, it's just tremendous," Johnson said.

In Bexar County, 40 to 50 percent of all fatal accidents involve alcohol. That's why last year, the state changed the law to make it mandatory that on a first-time DWI conviction, you spend 72 hours in jail.

"If it says 72 hours, they're gonna do 72 hours," Deputy Chief McKnight said.

But Johnson said lawmakers forgot to change the policy on electronic monitoring, so in some cases a convicted drunken driver could go straight to monitoring and never hit the jail. Add to that the severe overcrowding issue, and the drunken drivers who are locked up are also some of the first people to be let out.

"The jail population is always a problem for us," McKnight said. "With non-violent misdemeanants, the sooner we can get them out so that we have space for the serious offenders, that's what we'd like to do."

So what's the solution to keeping drunken drivers from getting behind the wheel of a car? Johnson said it's simple, take away the second most important thing to them � their car.

"Just take the car away from folks for 30 days," the judge said. "Doesn't matter if it's the fella doing the DWI's car or somebody else's car. For 30 days, impound the car for evidence. Wouldn't even have to change the law to do that."

Johnson said the police chief can adopt a policy making it mandatory that if you're stopped for drunken driving, the car you're in is goes to the impound lot.

"People would stop loaning cars to drunks," he said.

And both sides agree that if you make DWI offenders sit in jail awhile, it could convince them not to do it again.

"We hope that their stay here awakens something in them so that they see the error of their ways," McKnight said, "and hope they learned their lesson. If not, we'll see them again."

Everyone agrees that a big part of separating drinking from driving is treatment programs. While there are several in use in Bexar County now, Johnson and McKnight hope to see more in the future.

Johnson also hopes that once a new San Antonio police chief is named, he can meet with that person and convince him to begin impounding cars of drunken drivers as soon as possible.