Sun, Nov 22 2009
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Published June 27, 2009 11:05 pm - Jason Garrison is just one of many. In fact, there are at least 10 cases similar to Garrison’s that the local MADD chapter is tracking in Jasper, Newton and McDonald counties — cases involving a multiple DWI offender who has seriously injured or killed another person, only to get a subsequent or multiple additional DWIs. Repeat DWI offenders ‘slip through cracks’
By Greg Grisolano ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com Jason Garrison is just one of many. In fact, there are at least 10 cases similar to Garrison’s that the local MADD chapter is tracking in Jasper, Newton and McDonald counties — cases involving a multiple DWI offender who has seriously injured or killed another person, only to get a subsequent or multiple additional DWIs. “These DWI offenders are slipping through the cracks,” said Kerry Freeman, head of Jasper County’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “So what we try to do is keep really close tabs on them.” MADD does that by having a dedicated court monitor who regularly checks court filings and alerts members to upcoming court cases. Lori Morgan, who serves as court monitor in Jasper County, said she believes between 40 to 50 percent of first-time DWI offenders will get a subsequent DWI. “When we do the Victims Impact Panels, I run everybody’s name (who is registered to attend),” she said. “I would say it’s between 40 and 50 percent who are here more than once.” MADD officials, judges and others say there are a number of loopholes that allow DWI offenders to “slip through the cracks,” as Freeman said, as well as a number of ways to close them and make it harder for convicted drunken drivers to get back behind the wheel. Freeman said the biggest problem she has observed with Missouri’s court system is a lack of communication between various jurisdictions, which allows some previous violations to potentially go unnoticed by a judicial circuit. “If you get a ticket in the city of Joplin, Jasper County doesn’t know anything about it,” Freeman said. “And if you get one in Newton County, Joplin doesn’t know about it.” Interlocks Frank Harris, a spokesman with MADD’s national office in Washington, D.C., said one place to begin in Missouri is the “look-back” period, since a previous DWI offense is not counted as a prior if it occurs more than five years before a subsequent offense. “If I got a DWI in Missouri today, and I got one six years from now, it might count as my first conviction,” he said. “MADD believes if you get one today, and you get one 10 years from now, it should be on your record permanently.” At the national level, MADD also has been advocating for the mandatory installation of ignition interlocks for first-time DWI offenders. 
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