PRESS RELEASE
McHenry County State’s Attorney, Louis A. Bianchi, is pleased to announce that after a three day trial today a jury returned a guilty verdict in the case of People vs. Steven St. John. The defendant was observed leaving a Crystal Lake tavern and after getting into his vehicle, repeatedly collided with a parked vehicle. He was subsequently detained by officers from the Crystal Lake Police Department and charged with driving under the influence for the seventh time.
The case was prosecuted for the State by Assistant State’s Attorney’s Ryan Blackney and Simeon Kim. The conviction was for a Class X felony violation of driving under the influence of alcohol. The defendant faces a mandatory minimum of 6 years in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections with a possibility of being sentenced up to 30 years.
The defendant was also found guilty of a class 4 felony of driving while license revoked.
This case underscores the problem and dangers caused by repeat offenders who do not get the message that drinking and driving will not be tolerated. Those who choose to break the law will be vigorously prosecuted for the protection of the public. One death or injury caused by a DUI driver is one too many and the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office will prosecute those who drink and drive in violation of the law and jeopardize the public safety to the fullest extent possible.
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3 months ago
7 comments:
This underscores that we will send a drunk to prison for six years for getting stuck in a snow bank. Really seems like a waste of over $200,000 to me, but I guess it depends on your perspective.
*6 x 33,000 (cost of prison) + cost of prosecution = $200,000 plus.
In these cases I would rather send 3 or 4 scholars to college, or pay healthcare for 8 people, or fund a homeless shelter or food bank for more than a year.
I guess it all boils down to where you want to spend your money
AL, you did read the part in the Northwest Herald about this being the driver's 7th DUI conviction, right?
The driver's defense attorney contended that two of the DUI convictions were because the driver's identification was stolen in college and the other cases (that's the other four (4)) "ended in court supervision without a conviction being entered."
Kind of a good example of why supervision should be eliminated, especially for serious driving offenses.
Another Lawyer said...
This underscores that we will send a drunk to prison for six years for getting stuck in a snow bank. Really seems like a waste of over $200,000 to me, but I guess it depends on your perspective.
*6 x 33,000 (cost of prison) + cost of prosecution = $200,000 plus.
In these cases I would rather send 3 or 4 scholars to college, or pay healthcare for 8 people, or fund a homeless shelter or food bank for more than a year.
I guess it all boils down to where you want to spend your money
************
Think you would say the same thing if that 7 time DUI loser kills one of your loved ones? What would you be saying then? "What is wrong with this state! They failed to keep this dangerous driver off the road and now innocent people are dead! I should sue!"
How many times must someone get caught driving drunk or driving revoked before they are taken off the roadway and put behind bars?
Bring back chain gangs and put them to work cleaning up the highways instead of sitting in jail lifting weights and watching cable TV at the taxpayers expense. Make them work for their food and shelter and if they do not work when they are able to, then they get the bare minimums to keep them alive and no benefits such as workout equipment, television, visitors, phone calls, etc.
You and I both know, even from the Northwest Herald, that it wasn't because he got stuck in a snowdrift.
DA, you're starting to sound a little like Sheriff Joe Arpaio now...
I might to follow his lead and provide only the Disney Channel and the Weather Channel. What do inmates watch now?
Work-out rooms? McHenry County inmates actually have a gym?
This is kind of a sad reality ... in 1985 my father was killed by an impaired driver.
Yet, I still fail to make the logical jump that locking up drunks somehow gives society protection worth $200,000 apiece.
The money is frankly better spent elsewhere.
I agree that there ought to be a better way. As a society, I'll bet we could figure it out, too. Too bad flogging went out of style.
What if we found a jail to release 50% of those incarcerated and assure society that they wouldn't return to their old ways? I suspect most are not any better prepared to exist, even thrive, than they were when they were locked up. Rehabilitation, job training and encouragement would be good. Of course, then there would have to be jobs when they got out.
Where did all the jobs go? Mexico? Indonesia? China?
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