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The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by an Illinois man convicted in Douglas County of felony driving under the influence.

James Edward Schultz was sentenced in 2007 to a maximum of 10 years in prison but petitioned the court seeking a modified and reduced sentence. He argued a prior Illinois conviction should not be counted because the DUI law and sentencing in that state is different from Nevada statute. He said the Illinois statute doesn’t encompass the same conduct as that prohibited by Nevada law.

Without that conviction, Schultz’s case would not have been treated as a felony.

The high court rejected the argument.

“The record reveals that despite the disparity in the sentencing schemes, the Illinois statute Schultz was convicted under prohibits the same conduct prohibited (in Nevada),” the order by Justices Jim Hardesty, Michael Cherry and Nancy Saitta states.

Shultz had 19 prior felony convictions, 13 stemming from a single arrest on bad check charges. Four were related to driving under the influence and the rest were theft, battery and a drug charge. We are sure his mother is very proud

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ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A man was convicted Wednesday afternoon for killing three people while driving drunk on the Beachline. Stunning audio-tapes played in court revealed just how drunk Carlos Ortiz may have been.

The jury took less than 40 minutes to return the verdict and that included the jurors coming back to ask for a pen to put their guilty verdict in writing.

It was a quick decision to a quick trial. A jury of four women and two men wasted no time finding Carlos Ortiz responsible for the deaths of Alexis Suarez, his wife Jaqueline and their 3-year-old son Nayib.

Ortiz drove his white pickup into the Suarez family’s Nissan while they were stopped on the side of the Beachline in July 2007. They were killed while waiting for other relatives in a caravan to the beach to catch up.

Prosecutors said Ortiz had been drinking heavily and had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit. His own attorney said he wasn’t surprised by the verdict.

“Mr. Ortiz is no monster. He just made some bad decisions,” Ortiz’s attorney told Eyewitness News.

One of the last things the jury heard before deliberating was a taped interview troopers conducted with Ortiz while he was in the hospital just three hours after the crash. He maintained he didn’t know what happened.

“I just need to know, please. What happened? Please, tell me, please,” Ortiz told the trooper right after the crash. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. I could not tell you what happened. I really don’t know. I was (inaudible) and I was going to the water. I don’t remember nothing. I was tired and I was working a lot lately and I don’t remember nothing. I really don’t. I have family.”

“You drove in the emergency lane and hit them. Do you remember that?” the trooper asked.

“Are they okay?” Ortiz asked.

“No. They passed away in the accident. It was two adults and a little child,” the trooper replied as Ortiz began crying.

Hearing his own voice brought him to tears Wednesday and he didn’t put up much of a defense. In an extremely rare move, his attorney gave no opening statement and no closing argument, but with a guilty verdict will now ask the judge to spare him a life sentence.

Eyewitness News asked Ortiz’s attorney why no closing argument and he said he would rather not say. Other attorneys believe it could leave open a door for an appeal down the road.

The guilty verdict means Ortiz faces the possibility of a life sentence. That decision is up to the judge, but a sentencing date has not been set.

As you can see being charged with Florida DUI Manslaughter is a very serious offense. Finding a DUI attorney is your first step in fixing this mess.

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