Oklahoma lawmaker cites Noel crash in push for tougher DUI regulations w/ Brenda Montgomery video

By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

An Oklahoma lawmaker plans to champion legislation stiffening punishments for drunken drivers in honor of a man who was killed in an alcohol-related accident last year in Noel.

The proposed legislation would be named after the late Aaron Gillming, of Collinsville, Okla. Gillming and John Lackey, also of Collinsville, were killed while riding in a vehicle with Ricky Crase on Aug. 31, 2008.

Crase had already accumulated several convictions for drunken driving, all in Oklahoma, before he crashed his pickup truck on the Yarnell Branch bridge on Missouri Highway 90 in Noel. Crase was drunk during that accident and was sentenced to 15 years in prison last month in McDonald County Circuit Court.

Gillming’s mother, Brenda Montgomery, of Owasso, Okla., had panned the Oklahoma courts for the way Crase’s previous cases had been handled.

“The state of Oklahoma needs this for our safety,” Montgomery said Tuesday, asserting that many offenders receive “slight” punishments.

“It’s the worst thing in the world when you lose your child,” she said.

Last month, she made contact with her state representative, David Derby, R-Owasso, who said he would introduce legislation next year that would step up fines and other penalties for drunken drivers.

Derby on Tuesday said his legislation would call for penalties for the first offense to be raised to up to three years in prison. The punishment for a second offense and thereafter would be raised to up to 10 years in prison, while anyone who kills anyone as a drunken driver could face charges up to those for first-degree murder, Derby said.

Asked about the murder charge as opposed to manslaughter, Derby countered that a drunken driver has made a choice that ultimately leads to someone else’s death.

“You were given the privilege to drive,” Derby said. “It’s not a right. With that privilege, you have a responsibility.”