This story has bothered me since I read about it this morning. I’m sure I’m not the only one that was angered and saddened to read that yet another family lost loved ones because a habitual offender chose to get behind the wheel and drive drunk.
And I know many think the answer to this is no refusal blood draws. And I do understand that the idea (or part of it) is to gather enough evidence to make it difficult to get the charge dismissed.
But I do know this: It is entirely too easy to step out of county lockup (anywhere, really, not just Dallas), and get into a car and continue driving after being charged with a DWI – even after being convicted. I know because we’ve seen so many cases such as John Patrick Barton’s – on parole for a third DWI when caught. Only in Barton’s case, it ended in death.
I’ve seen men with ignition locks convince family and friends to blow into it so they could start the car, even though they’ve been drinking. I’ve heard offenders talk about driving to their parole meetings and parking blocks away to make it appear they’ve been behaving according to the terms of their parole or probation and not driving.
And as a cops and courts reporter, I saw a man once nearly wipe out a family while barreling down a Fannin County highway — trailer attached to his truck – and a BAC almost twice the legal limit. He wiped them off the two-lane road. At a pre-trial hearing, he showed up both late and drunk.
So given all that, I’m not sure that a blood draw is what is going to prevent these instances. It seems to me that the biggest problem is not the before conviction, but the after.
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Best worst mugshot ever?
Good luck getting that murder charge. That’s a tough charge to prosecute and get a conviction with in a DUI case. Human life is just not worth as much as it once was. He will probably end up doing as much time in prison whether he killed anyone or not.
Even if ignition locks can be out foxed, they still make sense to me. I have to think that it’s a good thing if more often than not it’s not possible to start the car after you’ve had a few. I wish they were used more often.
Oh, I agree Jim. Part of the problem, in my experience, is that there is many times a family member or friend willing to help circumvent things.
But ignition locks, and perhaps making it a little more difficult to drive if you have a suspended license, all of those things would be starts.
This is a problem of alcoholism turned horrifyingly criminal. That first incident is the time to act. Stop the alcoholic as early as possible to keep from putting other people at risk. If you tell a drunk or addict that he gets three chances, he’ll take three chances. Sad, but true. Bless their diseased souls… ane especially bless those they come in contact with — this family he destroyed deserves more grace than humans can give….What a total, total tragedy.
This is egregious. He should never have been out of jail. Everyone who had a role in letting this POS walk free is just as responsible for these deaths as the driver is. Shame.
I’m a general deterrent fan. I’m betting that if the penalty for a first-time offender was having the ever-living snot beat out of him or her by a ultimate fighting champion, taped for TV viewing, you would have (i) a significant drop-off in first-time offenders; and (ii) a balm-in-Gilead effect for the victims and people like us who have to read these reports. (Second-time offenders need to go straight to jail.)
One of my favorite college memories is walking out of a bar and being approached by a drunk who offered me $50.00 to blow into his ignition lock for him. I took his money and walked away without even approaching his car. he got upset (obviously) and flagged down a cop on the corner. the look on the cops face when the drunk explained that i was refusing to help him was priceless.
Bethany, I had the SAME reaction when I read this story this morning. It’s haunted me all day. I feel terrible for the family.
Judge Vic Cunningham (no longer a judge) was having some success with an ankle monitor that convicted DWI offenders wore that could detect BAC through the skin. Critics said it was “too expensive” at $400/month for the monitor and remote GPS monitoring. However, research shows the “average” alcholic spends in excess of $600/month on hooch.
I agree with publicnewssense…this is about an out of control alcoholic.
This will sound preachy but AS ALWAYS, it comes down to parenting. Clearly this kid is a terrible alcoholic. We know how that happens. Where are the parents? How was this boy raised? Disciplined? And now he’s killed two people and ruined lives.
We’ve probably all seen parents beating the crap out of their kids, humiliating them, calling them names, and getting so juiced up they don’t care what their kids do. I pray for those kids and hope they don’t become criminals. But the future doesn’t look bright for them, or innocent people like the victims in this case.
Heck, I never spent anywhere near $600 per month on booze, and I’m here to tell ya, I was an above-average drunk.
Novel idea, that, beating a drunk to a pulp as a cure for alcoholism. Why not just run knitting needles beneath each eyelid and do a little brain adjustment? Oh yeah, that’s been tried.
You know that society is grasping for solutions when the gummint finds it acceptable to force citizens to give blood on the side of the road. That, my friends, is creepy.
Condolences to the victims of this fiend.
We have a large policing department licensed by the state of Texas to deal with alcohol. Their agents get to carry guns, and they can be quite mean
Why not have anyone who is convicted twice within 6 years automatically be assigned to be monitored by the TABC.
I think, scratch that, I hope the pool of idiots who are convicted of DUI who then repeat their bad behavior again.
This makes so much sense, the TABC has seen a reduction in their requirements since most municipalities have voted themselves “wet”.
Why not give the Brute Squad the brutes of drunken driving?
Last night, it was revealed that Barton was driving his wife’s car, and that since he didn’t own a car, there was never any ignition lock placed, even though he was ordered to have one.
The Lewisville police told WFAA that they can’t charge someone who loans their car to a habitual drunk driver.
Maybe that needs to change?
Bethany,
What happened to the family is horrible. But we do not need new laws (such as criminalizing loaning your car to a habitual drunk driver). We need reasonable enforcement of existing laws. Mr. Barton is the criminal. He should be punished. I’m sure his wife is paying her own penalties for being married to him.
First and foremost, this is not a teen, this is an adult. His parents raised him right, in a Christian home, surrounded with much love, and faith. Secondly, this family all went to church with the victims family, so DO NOT BLAME the parents in this siituation.
This young man chose to drink and drive, and cost people their lives, but has ANYONE thought to think about blaming the restraunt/bar that overserved this individual… Everyone is always quick to blame the family and other, Seriously, think about the restraunt/bar that served him to get him to this point