S. Carolina lawmakers push for tough, tiered punishments

AIKEN --- When Aiken police stopped Harry Jefferson Rogers last year, his blood-alcohol level was 0.22 -- nearly three times the legal limit.

The Augusta man boasted that he had been arrested for DUI 27 times in Georgia and told officers he would drive drunk until he died, according to police reports.

Although it was his first DUI arrest in South Carolina, Mr. Rogers' driving crimes in Georgia followed him: He's serving a 21/2 year sentence in the Palmetto State for drunken driving.

Tougher punishments for repeat offenders such as Mr. Rogers might be on the way.

South Carolina legislators are close to increasing the penalties, depending on how drunk a driver is, and final approval could come as early as next week. On Thursday, a House-Senate conference committee reconciled differences between the two versions of the bill. If the changes go through, violators could be sentenced to three to seven years as part of a new, tiered system of punishment.

If the bill is approved next week by the House and Senate, punishment would then depend on a driver's blood-alcohol content, and how many times he has gotten that drunk and driven.

But local prosecutors aren't too thrilled with the current law or the proposed changes.

"It's to the point of absurdity," said Barbara Morgan, the solicitor for the 2nd Judicial Circuit, which includes Aiken County.

Ms. Morgan said the current DUI law is so complicated and "hypertechnical" that it hinders prosecutions for drunken driving -- and the proposed changes aren't fixing those problems.

Increasing the punishment to include mandatory minimum fines and jail time, she said, would likely encourage defendants to fight the charges even more vigorously.

"The more you increase the penalties, the more people have to lose," she explained.

State legislators are aiming to cut down on South Carolina's high drunken-driving fatality rate, which has been high nationally just as its DUI laws are considered weak. Last year, the South Carolina Highway Patrol arrested 159 people after officers spotted them exhibiting drunken-driving behavior. Another 114 were charged with DUI after hitting someone or something else.

Statistics from the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration show that in 2006, 14 people died in alcohol-related wrecks in South Carolina and 12 of the drivers involved were legally impaired. The previous year, 10 people died in alcohol-related wrecks, and nine of the drivers were legally over the limit. Statistics from 2007 were not yet available.

Yvonne Arthur, the assistant solicitor who handles Aiken County's DUI cases, said she prosecutes about 200 drunken-driving cases a year, including first offenders who go through magistrate court.

She said her only complaint is the state hasn't addressed the "tedious" provisions in the law that can derail her prosecution. For example, officers are required to read the suspect his Miranda rights twice.

And if the police video recording of a DUI traffic stop begins even one minute late, the case can be dismissed.

She agrees the law is there to protect the defendant's rights, "but if the camera's not working, should the entire case get thrown out?"

Ms. Arthur said she does agree with another change in the proposed law -- suspending a driver's license for a year instead of just six months if he refuses to take a Breathalyzer test.

But she's not convinced harsher penalties will do the trick on curbing DUIs.

"DUI is definitely a problem, because people don't stop and think," she said. "And that's not a problem you can solve with any statute."

Reach Sandi Martin at (803) 648-1395, ext. 111, or sandi.martin@augustachronicle.com.