Helena man sentenced for 13th DUI

Helena man sentenced for 13th DUI

www.greatfall stribune.com

A 53-year-old Helena man convicted of his 13th drunken driving charge has been sentenced to 13 months in the custody of the Montana Department of Corrections, followed by a five-year suspended sentence.

Charles Horton’s sentence, handed down Thursday by District Judge Jim Reynolds, is the maximum punishment.

Horton told the judge at Thursday’s hearing that he is not a risk to the community or state. State Probation Officer Lori Moore testified that Horton told her he has been involved in 17

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I once thought the MT police was too lenient or protecting a fellow officer for driving to fast while admittedly drinking.

that thread proved me wrong and this story just seals the fact of our corrupt system seems to just profit from people crimes then profit again off the punishment of the crime.


the judge recommends a 13month addiction treatment program. is that enough?

i don't think so at a minimum after the first DUI you must have a Breathalyzer and restricted driving hours on you License for 6mos to a year..

the 2nd DUI the punishment should be longer and require the offender to complete proper addiction treatment.

each new DUI i think restricted driving to and from work and a permanent breathalyzer in their vehicle should be considered as these people are not competent enough to operate a vehicle.

these few changes in the corrections system would be a start in the right direction for drunk driving I believe.



www.greatfall stribune.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Thats 13 times that people on the road were at risk of death/injury because of his careless decisions.

Ridiculous. SMH

That's nothing.
Where I live three teens were killed last year by a drunk driver. Since then.there have been major initiatives to remove these idiots from the road. Since then they have been pulling one or two drunk drivers off the road daily. Sometimes more. Many of then are repeat offenders, prohibited drivers, those under suspension.hits crazy. They catch them at all hours of the day too. We only have a population of 165000 over an area bigger than the greater toronto area. Its a heavy drinking town. We have people who have.lost their licences indefinately due to this. I think one guy had more than 13 dui.

Originally posted by metaldemon2000
That's nothing.
Where I live three teens were killed last year by a drunk driver. Since then.there have been major initiatives to remove these idiots from the road. Since then they have been pulling one or two drunk drivers off the road daily. Sometimes more. Many of then are repeat offenders, prohibited drivers, those under suspension.hits crazy. They catch them at all hours of the day too. We only have a population of 165000 over an area bigger than the greater toronto area. Its a heavy drinking town. We have people who have.lost their licences indefinately due to this. I think one guy had more than 13 dui.

The police here work this fairly hard too. There has been controversy over their tactic of sitting down from the bars sometimes to pick the low hanging fruit as they stumble into their cars at 2am. I've always thought that sounded fair to me. Why not go where the violators prepare all evening for their big debut? Anything to get them off the road... Too many dead innocents because someone decided to get drunk and couldn't plan their evening.

My question on Toronto and the hard attitude toward DUI there is, do the courts share the sentiment? It's that second half that keeps dropping the ball from the look of things.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


No, ontarios laws are fairly lax on.just about everything including dui. I say maybe half get off with a slap om the wrist.

The guy who killed the 3 teens got seven years and a ten year driving ban after he gets released.
link

reply to post by metaldemon2000

I appreciate the reply. At least I can sit back and know America isn't alone in treating this as far lower an offense than it deserves. I won't touch the whole first offense part of it, since all kinds of things can lead to a once in a lifetime mistake in judgement, but I'm all for multiple years in prison the 2nd time and 25-Life if someone dies as a result. It isn't about punishment...it isn't about rehabilitation. By the 2nd offense, it's about removal from our world. Period. Can't kill 'em....so prison can be home to them IMHO.

If tshtf, Canadians and Americans can probably work together to establish a close friendship over our common border, as soon as it's just regular people talking and not politicians screwing it all up.

The police should be his escort when he drinks.Reprieve his sentence,and let this man out.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Exactly what I was thinking. Tougher punishments. We as a society have become soft on criminals and even worse towards victims. If you ask me the punshment should fit the crime.
You have to wonder though, it makes absolutely no sense why drugs like marijuana is illegal yet don't cause these types of problems while alcohol is and causes many. Im not saying ban alcohol but ffs make the punishments for abusing it severe. And if that doesn't work then raise the legal age. In canada its 19 to drink in most provinces and 18 in others. Too many retard kids at the bar these days.
Mind you we can only purchase the stuff in.certain provinces from govt controlled outlets. This leads to higher prices but prevents sale to minors dramatically and these places almost never get robbed. Quebec sells it in stores and they have a higher armed robbery rate.
its easy for an establishment to lose a liquor license though. The incident I posted in the link, the establishment that served that guy.lost theirs even though they proved they did all that they could to prevent him from driving. They cut him off and then called him a cab, he ran away from the bouncers went around the blo k and got in his car when they weren't looking. What an a55h013. Meanwhile the place had to shut down and it was the only establishment for.miles so the whole town lost out as a result of one mans stupidity. Not to mention the owner who recently had just bought the place and was his.second establishment in what was supposed to be a big franchise. He was also the biggest entertainment promoter in town which also went under after this happened.

When I was in high school my friends father went to jail for 1 year after his 11th DUI in VA. They also suspended his license for 5 years.

The day he got out, he hopped in his truck and drove to 7-11 to get some Thunderbird. And the cycle continued.