Moment of impact: Lessons learned too late for many drunken drivers

This past week we have been moving all of Diane and Llyod's belongings out of their home so that it can be put up for sale. One of the days we were in Forestdale Brian Fraga, reporter for the New Bedford Standard Times, came out to talk with us. I had spoken to Brian previously in regards to Diane's death and he was now doing a larger article on repeat DWI offenders. The article appeared today in the Sunday edition and while I haven't seen the paper yet today I was told it is most of the front page of the paper and continues on page four, taking up the whole of that page also. I did find the article on the standard times website www.s-t.com.

Moment of impact: Lessons learned too late for many drunken drivers

By Brian Fraga -Standard-Times staff writer
June 10, 2007 6:00 AM

Diane Kelsey Carhart, a New Bedford native who lived most of her life in Mattapoisett, was driving on Route 130 near her Forestdale home the morning of March 5.

Driving carefully in her Chevrolet Tracker, Ms. Carhart stopped to make a left turn into a shopping plaza. Ten minutes earlier, she had spoken to her daughter, Susan Linhares, who said her mother was probably getting a cup of coffee at the time.

Ms. Carhart did not see him, but coming up behind her was Christopher Parker, a Sandwich man with four previous convictions for impaired driving. He was driving with a revoked license and speeding down Route 130, police said. It is not known whether he was driving impaired, because a blood alcohol content test was never conducted.

Mr. Parker hit Ms. Carhart's car from behind, and sent her into the path of an oncoming NStar truck, which crashed into her at more than 50 miles per hour. Ms. Carhart, 63, a grandmother, was killed instantly. Mr. Parker is charged with vehicular homicide due to negligence and driving with a revoked license.

Ms. Carhart's death illustrates the reality that repeat drunken driving offenders are still on the road almost two years after the passage of Melanie's Law.

"These repeat offenders have no respect for the law," said Ms. Linhares, who lives in Mattapoisett.

Ms. Linhares and her brother, John Everett, packed up their late mother's home last week. They moved boxes containing decades of memories into a 28-foot trailer. On Saturday, they interred the ashes of their mother and her husband, Lloyd Carhart, who died in December after a long illness, at Riverside Cemetery in Fairhaven.

"I had just talked to my mom 10 minutes before she died," Ms. Linhares said. "She was just coming out of the funk from losing her husband. She was getting ready to fix up the house, and then this."

Ms. Linhares was visibly frustrated that a man with Mr. Parker's record could still get behind the wheel of a car and endanger lives.

"Two times is bad enough, but three, four, five times?" she said. "Especially those caught on an additional offense, and they're still driving on a revoked or suspended license? Nothing is going to stop these people. It's an addiction."

The passage of Melanie's Law in 2005 raised hopes that imposing mandatory minimum sentences for repeat offenders, revoking their licenses and requiring they use ignition interlock devices would keep them off the roads.

But police continue to arrest motorists with prior offenses who still drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Sheila Martines Pina, the former president of the Southeastern Massachusetts Convention and Visitors Bureau, was arrested May 29 on her fifth drunken driving charge. Mrs. Pina, who is now in jail awaiting trial, already had two pending cases for drunk driving and a suspended license when she was arrested.

That behavior is not unique among alcoholics or addicts.

Richard Arnold, 56, a Swansea man who is serving a 150-day sentence at the Dartmouth House of Corrections for his third impaired driving conviction, said he drove numerous times drunk and never got caught by police. He figured he could get away with it most of the time.

"You think you can get away with it. That's the illness of alcoholism," he said. "It's a game you play, but you will get caught eventually."

Law enforcement authorities and Mothers Against Drunk Driving say tactics such as sobriety checkpoints, ignition interlocks, revoking licenses and seizing vehicles help. But some offenders often find ways around the law, such as borrowing a car from someone who does not have an ignition interlock, or they just ignore the law and drive on a revoked license.

The state "can take away licenses, but even then, they're gonna drive if they want," said Walter Duquette, 62, a Taunton man serving a 150-day sentence for his third drunken driving offense.

State lawmakers sought to toughen Massachusetts' operating-under-the-influence statutes by passing Melanie's Law in 2005. The law, named for a 13-year-old girl killed by a repeat drunken driver, set longer mandatory minimum sentences for repeat offenders, allowed prosecutors to use certified court records to prove prior drunk driving incidents and mandated repeat offenders eligible for a license reinstatement to have ignition interlock devices in their cars.

But Melanie's Law does not punish repeat offenders the way a murder conviction can. And physically preventing someone with a tendency to drink and drive is another matter.

About one-third of all drivers arrested or convicted of operating under the influence of alcohol are repeat offenders, according to MADD. Fatally injured drivers with a blood alcohol content above the legal .08 limit are nine times as likely to have a prior drunken driving conviction.
Repeat offenders "pose a very serious threat to everyone's public safety on the highways," said David DeIuliis, a Massachusetts MADD spokesman.

"These are people with problems with alcohol. They continue to go out and make this very bad decision," Mr. DeIuliis said. "It's something I think all the provisions of Melanie's Law are targeted at, but it's still too early determine what the law's impact has been."

Under Massachusetts state law, a first-time offender receives a one-year probation and undergoes a driver alcohol education program.

A second offense results in a 12-day confined alcohol treatment program, two-year probation and license suspension for two years. An interlock device must be installed as a condition of any license reinstatement.

After a third offense, a defendant faces a 150-day mandatory jail sentence, a fine up to $25,000 and a suspended license for eight years. A district attorney may also seize, keep or sell the offender's vehicle.

Those who are arrested for a fourth or fifth offense face respective mandatory minimum jail sentences of one and two years, and can be sentenced up to five years in state prison.

A motorist's license is revoked for life with no possibility of a hardship license after a fifth offense.

Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said his office is committed to enforcing the minimum sentences for repeat offenders. He said prosecutors consider longer sentences when there are "aggravating circumstances," such as speeding, reckless driving and serious injuries.

"In those cases, such as an accident that is particularly troubling with respect to the defendant's behavior, we may well ask for something more than the mandatory minimum," Mr. Sutter said.

However, Ms. Linhares is not satisfied with that approach. She wants prosecutors to aggressively seek longer sentences as often as possible. "A good start would be to enforce the laws that we have," she said. "I think there's a lackadaisical attitude among prosecutors. It seems they don't want to do the extra work involved."

Law enforcement officials point to additional measures besides prison sentences to keep drunk drivers off the road, such as sobriety checkpoints. New Bedford Police Chief Ronald Teachman said local police will be conducting a roadside checkpoint with state police troopers in the near future.

Chief Teachman said police will monitor the impact that ignition interlock devices have on deterring repeat offenders. He also suggested the state's current criminal records law could be amended to allow for public notification of repeat drunken driving offenders.

"We should also consider the vehicle impoundment when there is a violation subsequent to the ignition interlock device requirement," he said.

In addition to license suspensions, jail sentences and restitution, MADD recommends repeat offenders be assessed and receive treatment at a licensed substance abuse treatment agency. MADD also suggests they meet with a case officer during probation and attend a victim impact panel.

"You're not going to keep them in jail forever," Mr. DeIuliis said. "When they get out, if you haven't done anything to address their problem, they're going to continue their past behaviors."
Ms. Linhares said that many repeat offenders have an "illness," but said she is perturbed that many of them do not spend enough time behind bars.

"I think what they did with (Melanie's Law) was wonderful, but we need to pick up where they left off," she said Wednesday while moving another box of her mother's belongings to her car.

Ms. Linhares has spoken with state lawmakers to lobby them to pass even tougher penalties than Melanie's Law. She also set up a Web site, JusticeForDiane.com, to highlight the problem of repeat offenders in the hope that people like Christopher Parker are never allowed on the road again.

"This is something I was never aware of before because nobody in my family drinks," she said. "And then this happened. ... It's just appalling."

Contact Brian Fraga at bfraga@s-t.com