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A Clarksville man was sent to prison for more than three years for severally injuring a woman in a April 2009 DUI wreck.

Joseph Chimahosky, Jr., 27, pleaded guilty to vehicular assault and was sentenced to 3 years and six months at the Tennessee Department of Corrections by Judge Mike R. Jones this afternoon.

Chimahosky was charged with causing a wreck on April 11, 2009 by driving his car from an intersection into the wrong lane of travel into oncoming traffic while under the influence of alcohol.

Chimahosky struck the vehicle of Evelyn Turner and severally injured her and himself.

Chimahosky’s license was revoked at the time of the wreck and he had two previous DUI convictions. Chris Dotson, assistant district attorney brought out during sentencing that Chimahosky was on probation for a DUI conviction at the time of the wreck. His probation was to expire 11 days after the wreck.

Evelyn Turner took the stand today to express the pain she’s suffered from the wreck.

After the wreck she said she was unconscious for three weeks and woke up in Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Seven surgeries later and four months in a wheelchair, her medical bills peaked at about $1 million, she said. She had rods and pins put in her legs and arms and had to learn to walk again. She said she’d never even broke a bone before the day of that wreck.

“I’ve had to rebuild my body,” Turner said from the stand. “It’s up to me to build back what he took away.”

Turner said she settled a civil lawsuit with Chimahosky to cover losses.

Chimahosky took the stand and spoke about the horrible decision he made that day.

“If I could take it back I would,” Chimahosky said. “I let my emotions get the best of me and I had one too many drinks that night and I will pay for it the rest of my life, monetarily and emotionally. I had a problem with drugs and alcohol and it won’t change I get my ducks in a line…I was the cause of the accident. There’s not enough words to express my regret.”

Chimahosky said he was severally injured in the wreck and had seven surgeries on a broken shoulder, face bones, leg, ankle and said he suffered a bad concussion.

“It all could’ve been prevented if I used my head and thought before I made that decision.”

Dotson, cross examined him asking about his criminal history, which included DUI convictions, theft, weapon charged, and said Chimahosky endangered not only

Turner but all on the road that night. He asked for the maximum sentence for a Class D felony, four years.

Myers said the judge should consider Chimahosky had accepted responsibility and desired to rehabilitate and better his life for himself and his 4-year-old son.

Jones said with all the DUI cases that come through the court, what happened to Turner could happen again if there wasn’t something to deter people from drinking under the influence.

He ordered Chimahosky into custody to serve his 3 year, six month sentence in prison.

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The colourful head of Germany’s 25 million Protestants, dubbed by the media as a mixture of Mother Teresa and Demi Moore, resigned after being caught drunk-driving.

“Last Saturday, I made a big mistake,” Margot Kaessmann, 51, told reporters. “My heart tells me quite clearly that I cannot stay in office with the necessary authority . . . I hereby resign from all my church responsibilities.”

“I am very sorry to have disappointed many people who asked me to remain in office, and those who trustingly voted for me.”

Prosecutors said Kaessmann had been “completely unfit to drive” after police pulled over her luxury Volkswagen Phaeton saloon late on Saturday after she went through a red light 500 metres from her home.

Taken to a police station after failing a breathalyzer test, the bishop was found to be several times over the legal limit, and now faces a hefty fine and the loss of her driving licence for up to a year.

Mass circulation daily Bild also reported that an unidentified man had been next to the divorced mother of four in the car at the time.

Maryland is considering two important bills under the Drunk Driving Elimination Act movement to reduce the incidence of DUI in the state.

One bill would have all DUI offenders, even first time offenders, use an ignition interlock under state mandate for an extended period of time, likely three months. The bill is in line with efforts in other states to increase the use of ignition interlock devices. It is opposed by the Alcohol Beverage Institute, who would like to see the bill only apply to repeat offenders or those facing enhanced charges.

A second bill would remove the right to refuse a breath test from any driver pulled over under suspicion of DUI if he or she is a habitual offender. This bill is highly controversial, as personal rights proponents have long defended the necessity of allowing a driver to refuse the breath test. The change comes after Maryland and other states noted some offenders use refusal as a defense tactic, preferring the civil penalty of a license suspension to criminal court.

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The Wyoming House of Representatives has given preliminary approval to a bill to toughen drunken-driving laws in the state.

The House approved Senate File 19 on Wednesday in the first of 3 required votes.

The measure would expand from five to 10 years the period during which a previous conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol could be used to enhance penalties for subsequent convictions.

The bill also would make it illegal for drivers to have a blood alcohol concentration of higher than 0.08 percent within two hours of the time they’re arrested in a traffic stop. Supporters say that would help prosecutors when defendants claim that their blood alcohol level kept rising after they stopped driving.

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“Where did you have your last drink?”

That’s a question Virginia police officers could soon be required to ask you if you’re pulled over for a DUI.

It’s part of a bill that would require officers to report your information along to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. The legislation has already passed the House and now the Senate is about to vote. If it’s approved, Gov. Bob McDonnell will have to sign to make it law.

The bill’s sponsor, Delegate John O’Bannon (R-Henrico), wants to target businesses that do not follow alcohol laws. It’s a misdemeanor to serve alcohol to anyone who’s buzzed.

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Former Heroes star Adrian Pasdar pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge.

Heroes star Adrian Pasdar arrested for DUI

Pasdar, 44, entered the plea through his lawyer and did not appear in court. Pasdar — who left the NBC drama in November — was arrested on suspicion of a DUI Jan. 27 when authorities say he was caught speeding.

A pretrial hearing in Pasdar’s case is set for March 15. His attorney could not be reached for comment.

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The Gazette State Bureau wrote in mid-December about DUI problems in Montana and how the situation might be addressed with new laws. Greater penalties are the most commonly discussed solution as the Montana Interim Legislative Law and Justice Committee studies the problem. But that solution will only continue to grow the corrections budget. The solution is not to punish, or fix these people so they can drive again.

What we really need is an alternative to the individual automobile in Montana. We all need alternatives. Instead of spending hundreds of millions of tax dollars on more new highway construction to subsidize the oil industry and the automobile interests, we need to take a fresh new look at alternative transportation systems.

Montana is starting to have success with regional transportation systems, (check out www.ncmtransit.org). We need a large well-funded regional public transportation system in and around Billings.

Instead of more new highways, maintain what we already have and add easy-to-use regional public transit systems in addition to healthy alternatives such as safe walkways and bikeways.

It would be pretty wonderful if we could shift some of those millions of new highway construction tax dollars intended for larger construction projects back into our cities and neighborhoods. Public transit and healthy alternatives are more economical than new highways that would just create more sprawl, more box stores and further thin out our public services like fire protection, police protection and schools.

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The 23-year-old daughter of a Florida Supreme Court Justice was arrested for driving under the influence early Monday.

Stephanie Labarga, of Wellington, daughter of Florida Supreme Court Justice Jorge Labarga, was arrested while heading West on Okeechobee Boulevard at about 1:40 a.m.

Jorge Labarga was a judge for 15th Circuit Court in Palm Beach County, Florida from 1996 until 2009. He became a supreme court justice in 2009. He is also the judge who refused a new vote during the 2000 U.S. Presidential election on the grounds that the Constitution stated that an election must be held everywhere in the United States on the same day, not just in one area.

Labarga was born in Havana, Cuba.

More Florida DUI News.

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Washington Redskins cornerback Byron Westbrook was arrested on a drunken driving charge early Friday after a Charles County sheriff’s deputy saw him driving erratically on a state highway in Waldorf, the sheriff’s department said. Full Story.

While he’ll have his day in court, Dolphins cornerback Will Allen is the latest NFL player to be charged with a DUI. It’s a continuing problem in the NFL Even after Dante Stallworth was charged with DUI manslaughter after killing a man last spring. It’s also time for Roger Goodell to think about stiffening the penalty for NFL players who risk and endanger the lives of others. Full Story.

More athlete DUI Arrests as they happen.

A Colorado Springs teenager was sentenced Friday on charges relating to the death of a popular local athlete, David Mueller, in a tragic DUI accident last year.

Dylan Salazar may not spend a day in jail. Though a 4th Judicial District Court Judge sentenced him to 12 years in prison, a deal was worked out with the consent of the Mueller family. As long as Salazar completes four years with Youth Offender Services and a mandatory three years of supervised probation, the 12-year jail sentence will be suspended.

It was July of 2009 when Salazar crashed his car while he was drunk driving on Garden of the Gods Road in Colorado Springs. David Mueller, his friend and fellow UCCS student, was a passenger in that car and died at the scene of the crash.

In the arrest affidavit, it notes Salazar told police he was traveling about 90 mph on Garden of the Gods Road and swerved to hit a bunny. He says that’s why he lost control of his car. Police say he also told them he had two shots of alcohol and a half cup of beer before driving.

The affidavit also says Salazar’s speech was slurred, he smelled of alcohol and his eyes were blood shot after the crash.

David Mueller, who was 19 when he was killed, was a 2008 graduate from Coronado High School and was the star of the track team.

For a long time after the crash, pictures and written memorials, along with a large cross, marked the place where Mueller lost his young life.

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