By W. Clay Abbott
TDCAA DWI Resource Prosecutor in Austin
The two articles following this column tell the stories of prosecutors in two offices (Randall and Gregg Counties) who tried defendants for driving while intoxicated (DWI) and secured life sentences.
That’s right: life in prison for DWI. No crashes, no injuries, and no fatalities—simply driving under the influence of alcohol over and over and over again. Juries in both cases—and on opposite ends of the state—had clearly had enough of the defendants’ dangerous behavior.
I wanted to write an introduction to the articles for a couple of reasons. One is that in my job, I attend a bunch of local, statewide, and national meetings where the topic is, “What do we do about impaired driving deaths?” The first answer that is inevitably shouted from the crowd is, “Harsher punishment for DWI.” And while I certainly understand how victims feel that way, I rarely agree. In Texas, as these articles point out, we routinely get life sentences for DWI—just plain ol’ no-crash DWI. And when I explain this to people in other states, I don’t apologize. I think the defendants have earned the punishment, and local prosecutors and juries agree. Such a sentence is often hard for prosecutors and jurors (as both articles point out), but it is necessary. Defendants who accumulate a dozen or more DWI priors—and even more arrests and a far greater number of undetected instances of placing our communities at risk—simply won’t stop getting in a car while intoxicated and sending a speeding projectile onto our roads. I am proud Texas prosecutors and juries don’t simply sit on their hands and wait for someone to die in a crash.
Second, I want to explain how a life sentence is even an option with repeat offenders. DWI as an offense can be enhanced two ways. The first is under §49.09(b)(2) of the Texas Penal Code, where two prior DWI convictions raise a third DWI to a third-degree felony. These two priors are referred to as jurisdictional priors because they must be proven during guilt–innocence, either by introduction of judgments and records or by stipulation.
But felony DWIs may also be enhanced like any other felony (except state jail felonies) under Penal Code §12.42(d), where two prior felony convictions raise the punishment range to 25–99 years or life. While jurisdictional priors can be returned concurrently (or on the same date), Chapter 12 enhancements must be subsequent, meaning the first conviction must be final before the second DWI is committed. Note that the same DWI conviction cannot be used as both a jurisdictional prior and a Chapter 12 punishment enhancement. But for a defendant with a multitude of prior DWI convictions, both misdemeanors and felonies (as with the defendants in Randall and Gregg Counties), this possible enhancement makes charging a very strategic legal process that raises the minimum sentence to 25 years—and yes, it can result in life in prison. Both articles touch on how the State charged these offenders; for a much longer discussion about it, see Chapter 10 of TDCAA’s DWI Investigation & Prosecution book, which is available for sale at www.tdcaa.com/product/dwi-investigation-and-prosecution-2024.
As you’ll be reminded when reading these two articles, DWI prosecution and punishment matter—to prosecutors and to our communities.