Texas: Bill proposes deferred adjudication in DWI cases
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A new legislative proposal would allow first-time drunken drivers in Texas to be acquitted if they complete supervision and treatment, a move supporters say would reduce court backlogs and shift the judicial system’s focus to punishing repeat DWI offenders.
Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, filed the proposal that would allow for deferred adjudication for first-time DWI offenders. Repetition of the offense would become grounds to increase future punishments.
The bill, which has supporters including Mothers Against Drunk Driving, prosecutors and defense attorneys, would be a change from the state’s stance that all drunken drivers should face fines and jail. In the mid-1980s, deferred adjudication for such offenses was abolished in the state. Opponents at the time, including MADD, had argued that the form of probation was being accepted for repeat offenders.
“It’s a needed change,” said Richard Alpert, a Tarrant County prosecutor. “It’s not like they are getting a free DWI, but a type of probation that would not technically be a conviction. If they don’t reoffend, they can say they have not been convicted. But if they do reoffend, it can be used to enhance their punishment.”
Supporters say that by routing cases out of courtrooms, the plan could ease court backlogs. Also, they say, it could improve efforts to track and punish repeat DWI offenders and remove the threat of jail that makes some first-timers refuse guilty pleas.
“Generally we do not support deferred adjudication bills, but we are going to support this one,” Bill Lewis, public policy liaison for the Irving-based nonprofit group MADD, told the Austin American-Statesman. “Right now, we are hearing that many cases are not getting prosecuted for DWI but for a bogus charge. We hope the practice of reducing charges will be reduced if this bill does indeed pass.”
Supporters of the bill also say it could give prosecutors a new negotiating tool.
Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said that the plan would still require supervision of the defendant and could enforce fines and allow a judge to impose jail time as a condition of probation.
“This would be a first step to putting some sanity in that system as long as people make sure to retain it only for the true first-time offender,” Bradley said.
While the proposal has been in front of the Legislature before, Alpert said there is plenty of support this time.
“I think there is some momentum for this,” Alpert said. “It would give people who want to take responsibility an incentive to plead guilty, as opposed to setting these cases for trial. We have too many cases on the docket.”
Washington: Investigator: Drop charge in Afghan civilian death
SEATTLE (AP) — An Army investigator looking into the case of Washington state-based soldiers who are accused of killing three Afghan civilians has recommended dropping a murder charge against the alleged ringleader.
Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs of Billings, Mont., is the highest ranking of five soldiers charged. Another defendant told investigators that Gibbs provided a grenade used in the first killing.
The Seattle Times reports that an Army judge advocate has recommended that the murder charge against Gibbs in that killing be dropped. Col. Thomas Malloy says the Army could have trouble proving the charge. No witnesses have alleged that Gibbs directly took part in that killing.
Malloy recommended that Gibbs face a court martial on a conspiracy charge in the first killing, as well as conspiracy and murder charges in the other two killings.
Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti is reviewing the recommendation.
Pennsylvania: Police: Bartender raped unconscious customer
AMBRIDGE, Pa. (AP) — Police say a western Pennsylvania bartender has been charged with raping a female customer after hours who claims she was unconscious and drugged at the time.
Online court records do not list an attorney for 37-year-old James Sumpter, of Ambridge, who is in the Beaver County Jail awaiting a preliminary hearing Jan. 3.
Police say the owner of the Firehouse Lounge has cooperated in the investigation and that the woman reported the incident shortly after it ended Sunday morning.
Police say the 47-year-old woman claims she was drugged and raped for about three hours after the bar closed early Sunday. Sumpter is charged with rape of an unconscious person and with furnishing alcohol to an intoxicated person.
Ambridge is about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania: Fed judge tosses bar patron’s shooting lawsuit
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge in Pittsburgh has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a bar patron who claims he and another customer should have been searched for weapons before they shot one another in February.
Forty-two-year-old Thomas Galloway, of Arnold, filed the lawsuit last month seeking $20,000 for medical bills, “mental anxiety” and other alleged damages stemming from the Feb. 5 shooting at Envy bar in New Kensington. That’s about 20 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Galloway sued claiming the bar and its owner were negligent for not searching patrons for weapons. Galloway claims he and the other man were both carrying guns. Galloway says he spent five days recovering in a hospital.
Galloway was convicted for illegally possessing a weapon because of a prior criminal record for assault and drug charges.
Nebraska: Inmate appealing life sentence given at 17
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska inmate says his life sentence in a pair of 2005 killings is cruel and unusual punishment.
Jason Golka pleaded guilty to two murder charges in the shooting deaths of Jay Ellis and Roscoe Jordan at a Gretna house. He was sentenced to life without parole.
Golka is appealing his case to the state Supreme Court. Arguments are scheduled for Jan. 6.
Court records show Golka claims his sentence was unfair because he was 17 at the time of the killings. He also says his attorney gave bad advice, among other things.
Prosecutors have said the killings were likely payback for the men’s attack of Golka two days earlier. Police said the pair struck Golka in the head, sprayed his hat and face with paint and burned his forearm.
