This article was written by NBC Channel 4 WOAI Investigative Report Brian Collister on August 2, 2012.<\/p>\n
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SAN ANTONIO – Lisa Smith choked back tears after jurors last month sentenced the drunk driver who killed her daughter Erica in 2007 to two years in prison.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I do not certainly believe that it was enough time,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI hope someday I will find forgiveness in my heart but it is very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trial of 32-year-old Jenny Ybarra was what most people expect from a high-profile drunk driving case resulting in death \u2013 intense media coverage and a dramatic trial capped by a jail sentence handed down by 12 jurors. But that\u2019s not how the overwhelming majority of felony drunk-driving cases are handled in Bexar Country courts.<\/p>\n
Most felony DWI defendants have not killed anyone and rarely get prison time. In Bexar County, the majority of those charged with DWI for the third time or more are still most likely to again be placed on probation, despite having been put on community supervision for prior DWI convictions.<\/p>\n
An analysis of three years worth of court records obtained from the Bexar County District Clerk reveals 52 percent of felony DWI offenders across all Bexar County District Courts get probation in cases where the sentence is decided by a judge.<\/p>\n
| Court<\/td>\n | Judge<\/td>\n | Probation<\/td>\n | Sentence %<\/td>\n | Total Cases<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 144th<\/td>\n | Catherine Torres-Stahl*<\/td>\n | 60%<\/td>\n | 40%<\/td>\n | 139<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 175th<\/td>\n | Mary Roman<\/td>\n | 42%<\/td>\n | 58%<\/td>\n | 137<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 186th<\/td>\n | Maria Teresa “Tessa” Herr<\/td>\n | 63%<\/td>\n | 37%<\/td>\n | 162<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 187th<\/td>\n | Raymond Angelini<\/td>\n | 60%<\/td>\n | 40%<\/td>\n | 141<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 226th<\/td>\n | Sid Harle<\/td>\n | 44%<\/td>\n | 56%<\/td>\n | 156<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 227th<\/td>\n | Philip Kazen<\/td>\n | 53%<\/td>\n | 47%<\/td>\n | 133<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 290th<\/td>\n | Sharon McRae*<\/td>\n | 47%<\/td>\n | 53%<\/td>\n | 147<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 379th<\/td>\n | Ron Rangel<\/td>\n | 59%<\/td>\n | 41%<\/td>\n | 145<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 399th<\/td>\n | Juanita Vasquez-Gardner<\/td>\n | 42%<\/td>\n | 58%<\/td>\n | 142<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 437th<\/td>\n | Lori Valenzuela**<\/td>\n | 39%<\/td>\n | 61%<\/td>\n | 46<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| ALL COURTS<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | 52%<\/td>\n | 48%<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| This\u00a0\u00a0 data is reflective of District Court felonies in Bexar County for the offense\u00a0\u00a0 classified as DWI 3rd (meaning 3rd or more) from January 1, 2008 through\u00a0\u00a0 December 31, 2010<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||
| Source\u00a0\u00a0 of the raw data is the Bexar County District Clerk. The percentages\u00a0\u00a0 represent cases where a judgment was entered by the court.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||
| <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| * No longer\u00a0\u00a0 in office<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | |
| **\u00a0\u00a0 Appointed 12\/15\/09<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n \u201cI\u2019m surprised to see this number. It\u2019s disappointing to see that more people are getting probation versus being sentenced to the fullest extent of the law,” says Jennifer Northway, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving-South Texas. \u201cBecause at this point it\u2019s been moved up to the district court, and it should be considered a very serious, egregious problem that needs to be nipped in the bud.\u201dFirst and second DWI misdemeanors are handled in County courts. A third DWI charge becomes a felony taken up in District courts.\u201cI sent most of them to prison,\u201d says District Attorney Susan Reed, a former judge, referring to convicted drunk drivers in her court. \u201cThere still has got to be a consequence. That’s what we try to insure when we look at recommendations we make.\u201dThe court data also gives a glimpse into how each District judge handles these types of cases, including which jurists hand out the most prison time. The toughest on third-time offenders are Mary Roman in the 175th District Court and Juanita Vasquez-Gardner in the 399th, with both sending 58 percent to prison.Maria Teresa \u201cTessa\u201d Herr in the 186th hands down the least amount of prison time for DWI convictions, putting only 37 percent of felony offenders in her court behind bars. The judge with the second lowest rate is Raymond Angelini in the 187th, who sends 40 percent of DWI convicts in his court to jail.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to know a little bit more, especially for those courts where we do see that there is over a 50-percent probation rate,\u201d Northway says. \u201cI would really like to know what\u2019s going in the 144th, 187th, and 186th.<\/p>\n Defense attorney Nico LaHood, who represents defendants in drunk-driving cases, isn’t surprised by the variances in sentencing. \u201cThere is no cookie cutter way to handle a DWI third,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n LaHood points out third-time DWI offenses come with the possibility of two to 10 years in prison, or as much as 10 years of probation, as well as a fine of up to $10,000.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a big range of what can happen. So what they\u2019re telling us is that not every situation is the same,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s so much more to this story than just saying judges are too easy, or this should be different, because it\u2019s not a black and white answer.\u201d<\/p>\n District judges contacted for this story did not respond to requests for comment. But a judge who asked not to be identified because he still presides over DWI cases explained how sentences in DWI cases are usually decided.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things you look at is, when did the first two convictions occur? That\u2019s the first thing you look at,\u201d the judge says. \u201cWas he on probation when he committed the third offense? Was it 10 years ago or 15 years ago?\u201d<\/p>\n The judge explains he\u2019s more likely to hand down prison time to those who\u2019ve gotten caught driving under the influence again not long after their second conviction.<\/p>\n \u201cThose guys make me nervous,” he says. “I would be less inclined to grant probation on somebody like that, unless the state is recommending it because there is some underlying problem with the case, or unless there is some really compelling arguments on why you\u2019d want to do that \u2013 because they are the most dangerous. They are getting [convictions] back to back, and there\u2019s no intervention or no stopping it.\u201d<\/p>\n Every drunk-driving defendant who lands in District court goes through an intense evaluation conducted by Bexar County probation department to determine if there is an alternative to incarceration. For those deemed not to be a threat to society, the recommendations usually include ignition interlocks and alcohol treatment, and they are required to wear ankle bracelets that detect alcohol if they drink.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re nonviolent offenders and we have ways to control them on the outside,\u201d says Sheri Simonelli, president of the Bexar County Probation Officers Association.<\/p>\n That’s the approach favored by Jamie Balagia, a defense attorney known as “The DWI Dude.”<\/p>\n \u201cWe are creating criminals, and we don\u2019t have to,\u201d Balagia says. \u201cAs a taxpayer, I don\u2019t want to pay $60,000 a year to keep [someone] who would otherwise be a productive citizen locked up when we could have him out here paying taxes and working.”<\/p>\n Reed has a virtual zero-tolerance policy on drunk driving. But in an effort to clear misdemeanor DWI cases clogging dockets in County courts, she established an alternative offense in 2008 called \u201cobstruction of a highway \u2013 intoxication\u201d for first-time offenders. That charge comes with rigorous conditions of probation. But Reed believes repeat offenders \u2013 whom she has targeted with mandatory blood draws in cases where they refuse a sobriety test \u2013 should do time.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it is necessary when you have repeat offenses to increase punishment as you go,\u201d said Reed. Asked if that meant prison time for third-time offenders, she replied: \u201cI think it should.\u201d<\/p>\n Although the current statistics are alarming to some, the number of cases in which defendants only get probation has dropped over the last decade. A similar analysis I conducted back in 2002 revealed 58 percent of felony DWI convicts at the time got probation \u2013 6 percentage points higher than we find today.<\/p>\n Defense lawyer Shawn Brown thinks he knows what\u2019s caused the decline in in cases where a judge gives probation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe numbers are coming down in Bexar County, and I think a lot of it is the media telling stories of accidents,” Brown says. “People are upset about it and the courts are feeling pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n But as with most discussions of prison sentencing in Texas, the issue ultimately comes down to availability of prison space. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing judges take into consideration the jail overcrowding issue, and trying to figure out what they can do to still put some sanctions in place but not have to ‘burden’ the jails,” Northway says.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s the certainty of time behind bars that MADD believes would make many drunk drivers think twice.<\/p>\n \u201cSo people are being able to skirt around [prison sentences], because of time served or what have you,” Northway says. “But at the end of the day it\u2019s still not enacting a strict sanction, which is ultimately what is going to change people\u2019s behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This article was written by NBC Channel 4 WOAI Investigative Report Brian Collister on August 2, 2012. SAN ANTONIO – Lisa Smith choked back tears after jurors last month sentenced the drunk driver who killed her daughter Erica in … Continue reading |