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.”
Currently, a first-time drunken driver in Oklahoma faces up to one year in jail. An offender convicted a second time within 10 years of the previous incident faces up to five years in prison. Third-time and thereafter offenses each carry up to 10 years in prison.
Derby also said his legislation would increase the fines people have to pay and stiffen the penalties when it comes to the suspension or revocation of driver licenses.
Derby said he has not lost a family member to a drunken driver, although he saw a number of cases while previously working in the forensic laboratory of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
“I just know the statistics are overwhelming,” he said of drunken driver accidents in Oklahoma.
Derby said he would introduce his legislation during the Oklahoma Legislature’s next session, which begins in early February and goes through late May.
Background
According to court documents, Ricky Crase has four previous convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol between 1988 and 2007, all in Oklahoma. Crase also pleaded guilty to second-degree arson in March 2007 in Tulsa County, Okla. He initially was assessed a deferred sentence on the arson charge, and Tulsa County prosecutors moved to revoke his probation in July 2008. Crase was free on bond at the time of the August accident, and two months later was assessed a five-year prison sentence.
Local News
<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0>Oklahoma lawmaker cites Noel crash in push for tougher DUI regulations<font color="#ff0000"> w/ Brenda Montgomery video</font>
- Local News
-
-
Couple 'scoop out' ice cream business from the past
When 3-year-old Brynlee Rabel tried coconut ice cream for the first time Tuesday, it was love at first taste. “She got the vanilla, but when she tasted my coconut ice cream she had to have it,” said Kayleigh Daugherty, a Joplin resident who wanted Brynlee to share the same experience she had as a little girl when she visited Anderson’s Ice Cream.
-
Missouri National Guard releases records involving soldiers who looted from Wal-Mart
The Missouri National Guard has released records confirming that four soldiers were disciplined for taking merchandise from the ruins of a Wal-Mart store in Joplin one day after the tornado that devastated the city a year ago.
-
Joplin school board awards contract to complete demolition of JHS
The Joplin Board of Education on Tuesday night accepted a bid for finishing tornado-related demolition at the high school.
-
Auditor cites, commission covers potential shortfall in Jasper County sheriff’s budget
The Jasper County Commission on Tuesday approved the transfer of $23,000 onto the Law Enforcement Sales Tax fund available to the sheriff’s office to cover a potential budget shortfall.
-
Joplin METS director requests space for additional ambulance
If all goes like METS Director Jason Smith hopes, this time next year the service will have two ambulances in Webb City, housed in their own station. At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Smith requested that the council allow the Joplin-based Metro Emergency Transport System to rent or lease space at the former public works building, 110 E. Church St.
-
Mike Pound: Food competitions combine to make culinary heaven
It’s such a great idea, you wonder why someone didn’t think of it before. In fact, it’s such a good idea that it’s possible it came about by accident.
-
Mo. court strikes down part of 2008 harassment law
The Missouri Supreme Court has struck down part of a state harassment law enacted after the suicide of a St. Charles County teenager who was teased over the Internet.
-
Cattle rustlers strike again in SW Mo. county
The plague of cattle rustling goes on in southwest Missouri’s Greene County.
Sheriff Jim Arnott says the latest episode occurred sometime Sunday in Walnut Grove. -
Bids sought for Cherokee County water treatment plant
After many delays, construction bids are being sought for a water treatement plant and water tank for the Spring River Public Wholesale Water District No. 19.
-
Dog helps some get through the court process
Sophie, a mutt of a dog with draping ears and dotted brows, is helping people in St. Louis County court tell stories of crime to judges, investigators and attorneys.
- More Local News Headlines
-
