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A Fremont woman convicted of her fourth drunken-driving offense will be sentenced Jan. 25 in Dodge County District Court.

Thirty-3-year-old Spring Howley faces up to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. She also could have her driver’s license revoked for 15 years.

Howley this month pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated. She also had been accused of having her 5-month-old infant in the back seat of her vehicle at the time of the offense.

In exchange for her plea, prosecutors agreed to drop one count of child abuse.

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An analysis of four years of sentencing data by The Denver Post found cases of people with as many as seven drunken-driving arrests who avoided going to jail and were allowed, instead, to serve alternative sentences. Sometimes that meant hanging out at home — a reality that perplexes Adams County District Attorney Don Quick.

“You shouldn’t get grounded for your seventh DUI,” Quick said.

The Post analysis of data compiled by the Office of the State Court Administrator between 2005 and 2008 also found an Arapahoe County judge who issued jail sentences in more than 90 percent of those repeat cases and judges in neighboring Adams County who locked up defendants in similar cases less than 40 percent of the time.

The discrepancy, according to judges, lawyers and other experts, is the result of the collision between judicial philosophy and legal interpretation against the overriding reality of full jails.

Quick, for one, was not swayed by that argument.

“I think it’s a treatment issue when they get drunk and watch TV at home,” Quick said. “When they drive, it’s a criminal issue.”

The state has multiple laws that govern drinking and driving. A motorist with a blood-alcohol level of 0.05 percent is presumed to be impaired. A motorist with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent is presumed to be intoxicated.

Colorado law imposes mandatory minimum jail terms for repeat offenders — five days for a second conviction of driving while ability impaired, 10 days for driving while under the influence. The maximum sentence is one year in jail.

But a separate Colorado law allows judges to hand down alternative sentences — including in-home detention. The alternative-sentencing laws, which apply to many different offenses, can be less costly than jail and relieve overcrowding.
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The Importance of Hiring a Colorado DUI Lawyer

Sure, the jails are packed but you can be sure they have room for you Colorado repeat DUI offenders. This is why you must hire a Colorado DUI lawyer to defend your rights initially and perhaps work out an agreement with the state to get your sentence reduced if, in fact, you are guilty of a multiple Colorado DUI.

Nebraska Man Sentenced for Lincoln Aggravated DUI

A district judge sentenced a 53-year-old Lincoln man Thursday to four to six years in prison for aggravated fourth-offense DUI.

According to court records, a Nebraska State Patrol trooper stopped Hayes at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 5 because he didn’t have license plates. The trooper discovered his license had been suspended for 15 years. As he was putting the Nebraska aggravated DUI offender in the cruiser, the trooper smelled alcohol. His’ blood alcohol level tested .282 percent, more than three times the legal limit to drive. The Nebraska legal blood alcohol content is .08

When arrested for Nebraska DUI an experienced Lincoln DUI lawyercan always minimize the price you pay for a DUI.

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Kiefer Sutherland had one major complaint about his 7 week stint after his DUI.

No Smoking.

He completed his term for DUI months ago and talks about the experience in the Men’s Vogue December/January issue.

“There’s no smoking,” Sutherland says. “The lights never go out, 24/7. You can’t cover anything. You can’t even put your head under a blanket. All the cells have cameras in them.”

He says he was lied to that he would have his own cell.

“I was told, you know, ‘You’ll have your own cell.’ But I didn’t for the first two or three weeks; I had a cell mate,” he says.

Sutherland thinks his 7 weeks without smoking a single cigarette made him believe he could quit.

Known as Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (CAM) Programs, the foundation is a high-tech anklet, worn 24/7, that actually tests an offender’s sweat every 30 minutes, around the clock, in order to measure for any alcohol consumption. The system, known as SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor), is currently monitoring 1,300 DUI offenders each day in the state of Texas.

More than 6,000 offenders have been monitored since Dallas and Tarrant County courts first began to use the system in late 2003. Today, 71 Texas counties have access to the technology, predominantly to monitor drunk drivers. Michigan, with the second largest daily number of SCRAM clients, currently monitors just under 900 offenders statewide each day.

The purpose of the system, according to corrections officials, is to target the high-risk, repeat DUI offenders who are struggling with addiction.