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Texas teen killed in crash by ‘serial drunk driver’ hours after he was released from prison


bullets13

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But at the same time they have people with multiple DWIs and no prison time.

It makes for a quick guilty plea bargain.

 The suspect  can risk a felony conviction and prison time or plea guilty to a misdemeanor for a month in the county jail…. to be served on weekends.

Let’s see, which would I choose……

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39 minutes ago, tvc184 said:

But at the same time they have people with multiple DWIs and no prison time.

It makes for a quick guilty plea bargain.

 The suspect  can risk a felony conviction and prison time or plea guilty to a misdemeanor for a month in the county jail…. to be served on weekends.

Let’s see, which would I choose……

Are there not mandatory sentences for three offenses?  

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7 hours ago, LumRaiderFan said:

Are there not mandatory sentences for three offenses?  

Mandatory…. IF it is prosecuted as such.

For example….

It has been a while since I looked up the penalties but a habitual violator (three strikes on any felonies except a state jail felony which is basically an enhanced misdemeanor) carries a 25 year minimum sentence. As an example, a guy is intoxicated, runs a stop sign and hits another vehicle. It causes a broken foot on the other driver but nothing life threatening. That is Intoxication Assault and a third degree felony or a 2-10 sentence. BUT, a few years ago he was convicted of using his 70 year old grandmother’s credit card and on another occasion, got caught with a single rock of cocaine and convicted. So he was caught in two fairly low key felonies (no injuries or even threats to anyone) non-violent felonies. All the cases carried the 2-10 year sentence. 

Since the guy previously used his grandmother’s credit card without permission and since he got caught with a rock of cocaine, for the broken foot in a DWI accident he is now facing 25-99 as a habitual violator. Even Murder has a 5-99 penalty so in this case the broken foot in an accident actually carries a stiffer of penalty than Murder.

 That is an extremely powerful tool for prosecutors. So let’s play the plea bargain what if game. We (DA) will let you plead guilty to intoxication assault and 10 years in prison as the maximum sentence. You can potentially get out on parole in about two years. OR……. you can go to trial and face a jury and they can give you a 25 year minimum and up to 99 years.

So if you are the accused and reasonably certain of a conviction, do you accept the maximum sentence and get out two years or do you face with jury that might give you up to 99?

Therefore, while there are a mandatory sentencing guidelines for a three strike felony, whether a DA makes a plea deal or not can mean everything.  So 2-10 or 25-99?

That is why you see stories like a guy that has eight felony convictions but is walking the streets.

So to your question, are there mandatory for three felonies convictions? Absolutely!!

Are these potential life sentences prosecuted to the max? Absolutely……. not.

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