Wichita County man gets life sentence for 10th DWI

CptSternn · 08-10-2008, 01:59 AM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...o/5932916.html

WICHITA FALLS, Texas — A man with nine previous drunken driving convictions was sentenced to life in prison.

Kenneth Chris Oneal, 58, received the maximum sentence Thursday after jurors convicted him of driving while intoxicated-repetition, his 10th drunken-driving related offense.

The offense was a felony because he had at least two such convictions in the past, prosecutors said. He faced from 25 years to life in prison.

Department of Public Safety troopers pulled him over in October and his blood-alcohol level tested at .215 percent, which means it was nearly three times the Texas legal limit of .08 percent, authorities said.

Ben Hoover, lead prosecutor in the case, said Oneal also had previously been convicted of assault and failure to stop and render aid.

"The jury handed down a big sentence, but it was a just sentence," Hoover said. "The jury apparently took this offense seriously and wanted to send a message that a multiple-DWI offender was not going to be allowed back on the roads of Wichita County."

CptSternn · 08-10-2008, 02:00 AM

AAAhhh, America. Where you can receive life in prison for shoplifting a golf club or driving after two beers.

KontanKarite · 08-10-2008, 02:01 AM

Oh that's just fucked up. Why not revoke his license? Man. That's harsh.

Joker_in_the_Pack · 08-10-2008, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CptSternn

AAAhhh, America. Where you can receive life in prison for shoplifting a golf club or driving after two beers.

If you're blood alcohol is 0.2 after two beers, you're a hobbit.

TurquoiseXx · 08-10-2008, 01:07 PM

Sentencing him to life in prison is a bit too much I think. Sticking him in jail for several years, revoking his license, and impounding his car would make a lot more sense - and also getting him some help since he needs it.

I don't think it would be a good idea if the only punishment he received was a revoked license. He would most likely still drive around without it. So many people do that already.

Deadmanwalking_05 · 08-10-2008, 01:12 PM

They should have made him the county's janitor at most,but the Assualt Charge does raise an eyebrow,any more info on that?

TurquoiseXx · 08-10-2008, 01:15 PM

He probably got mad after being arrested so many times :P

PortraitOfSanity · 08-10-2008, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CptSternn

AAAhhh, America. Where you can receive life in prison for shoplifting a golf club or driving after two beers.

You either have no reading comprehension at all, or you're doing a really good job of faking it.

LadyStardust · 08-11-2008, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurquoiseXx

He probably got mad after being arrested so many times :P

Either that, or he seriously injured someone while driving drunk. Driving while intoxicated is incredibly stupid, and is often the equivalent of swinging an axe around with your eyes closed. So many lives have been lost because of people who are just too stupid and/or stubborn to realize that they are too impaired to get behind the wheel.

TurquoiseXx · 08-11-2008, 09:55 PM

You are right LadyStardust. Not many people take the dangers of driving drunk seriously. It's crazy when you hear people say "Man, I don't even remember driving home." I don't get it.

LadyStardust · 08-11-2008, 10:14 PM

Another crazy thing they say is "I thought I was okay to drive," when pulled over, or - even worse - in court cases after having killed someone.

Saya · 08-11-2008, 10:21 PM

I used to be a bartender, it was crazy hard sometimes to convince people that they were not okay to drink. Even when there's a designated driver, some people for some reason INSIST on driving.

There was this one regular who managed to get his brand new truck stuck out in the middle of the woods because he tried to drive down a small atv trail while drunk.

TurquoiseXx · 08-11-2008, 10:51 PM

You just can't really win with some drunks. They will do and say whatever they want, regardless of the consequences.

Saya, did that regular learn his lesson or did he still come back and drive home drunk?

Saya · 08-11-2008, 11:04 PM

Well he didn't get drunk at the bar that time, he was drinking at home :S Yeah he came back, he was quite the alcoholic.

Beneath the Shadows · 08-12-2008, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CptSternn

AAAhhh, America. Where you can receive life in prison for shoplifting a golf club or driving after two beers.

Ah, Ireland... where people think that it's okay to drive drunk. And that two beers can give you a blood alcohol level of .2%, when in reality two beers will give you a blood alcohol level of .02%.

And he didn't get life for driving drunk. He got life for doing it multiple times. Do you seriously think that someone who has been arrested for and convicted of drunk driving ten times should receive a lenient punishment? It seems to me they should've started just tough with this guy by the second conviction at the latest.

HumanePain · 08-12-2008, 06:27 AM

Obviously no one posting in this thread has ever lost a loved one to a drunken driver who already had a revoked license and got in a car drunk and drove anyway. Better for the rest of us keeping them off the road than letting the drunk be free at the cost of innocent lives.

TurquoiseXx · 08-12-2008, 04:43 PM

You're right Humane. When it hits closer to home, people tend to have a different view.

It's just ridiculous that the guy had 9 prior convictions and no one was taking it seriously until now. It's so mind boggling. He could have killed someone.

MitsyMayhem · 08-12-2008, 04:46 PM

I agree with Humane here. My friend Mich was hit by a drunk driver. The car hit right in the side of his, on his side. He took the worst damaged. He was in the hospital for 2 months. He's okay though and I'm grateful for that, that and that his twin sister wasn't in the car as well.

Joker_in_the_Pack · 08-12-2008, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurquoiseXx

You're right Humane. When it hits closer to home, people tend to have a different view.

It's just ridiculous that the guy had 9 prior convictions and no one was taking it seriously until now. It's so mind boggling. He could have killed someone.

With 9 DWI, he could have killed everybody.

TurquoiseXx · 08-12-2008, 05:05 PM

Definitely. I'm surprised he didn't.

CptSternn · 08-13-2008, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beneath the Shadows

Ah, Ireland... where people think that it's okay to drive drunk. And that two beers can give you a blood alcohol level of .2%, when in reality two beers will give you a blood alcohol level of .02%.

And he didn't get life for driving drunk. He got life for doing it multiple times. Do you seriously think that someone who has been arrested for and convicted of drunk driving ten times should receive a lenient punishment? It seems to me they should've started just tough with this guy by the second conviction at the latest.

We have very strict laws here, well now. Until 2002 we didn't even have driving licenses - you buy a car you could drive it no worries, no license needed.

.08% is the legal limit in most US states, which is easily achieved by two beers in many cases. It has nothing to do with your tolerance, you could be be a large man and be able to drink loads, the BAC is the same when you consume a certain amount of alcohol.

But that being said, if your fine with this sort of law, then who am I so say its a bit extreme.

The reality is this is a case of America locking up Americans. If America thinks its citizens need life in prison for DWI, then so be it.

Much like Arab nations allow public stonings or other such penalties which some people might find extreme, it just shows its all a matter of perspective. Depending on where you live various judgements and penalties might not seem extreme if the culture you live in condones such penalties.

Solumina · 08-13-2008, 02:57 AM

Just in case some of you didn't know this: failure to stop and render aid is more commonly referred to as a hit and run. It seems to me like this guy has already spent a few years in prison. Drunk driving is dangerous and carries jail time, as with most crimes the more offenses you have the harsher your sentence will be.

Also two beers in under an hour would put me around .08 I'm 125lbs most average sized men could drink three beers in an hour and get that level, this guy was way above this. Remember this was a DWI not a DUI, they have different consequences for a reason. Also for those who say that he needs help I agree but there is no help that the court can give him. If you get convicted of driving while intoxicated then you get you license revoked for a period of time and you are forced to get help for being an alcoholic.

Wednesday Friday Addams · 08-13-2008, 03:46 AM

Being a alcoholic sure must suck. It runs in my family as well.

Beneath the Shadows · 08-13-2008, 03:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CptSternn

.08% is the legal limit in most US states, which is easily achieved by two beers in many cases. It has nothing to do with your tolerance, you could be be a large man and be able to drink loads, the BAC is the same when you consume a certain amount of alcohol.

Blood alcohol level depends on how much you drank, what you drank, how quickly, your weight, and, apparently, whether you're male or female. For comparison, a 200 pound male who drank a 12-pack of beer in three hours would have a blood alcohol level of about .175 percent, which is less than the man in the article.

Quote:

But that being said, if your fine with this sort of law, then who am I so say its a bit extreme.

By that same token, who are you to complain about it in the first place? And who are you to be upset when someone who's an obvious unrepentant threat to public safety should finally be dealt with?

Quote:

The reality is this is a case of America locking up Americans. If America thinks its citizens need life in prison for DWI, then so be it.

There's a difference between one or two convictions, and ten.

Quote:

Much like Arab nations allow public stonings or other such penalties which some people might find extreme, it just shows its all a matter of perspective. Depending on where you live various judgements and penalties might not seem extreme if the culture you live in condones such penalties.

That's not even an applicable analogy, and you know it.

Joker_in_the_Pack · 08-13-2008, 01:44 PM

Blood alcohol also depends on what you ate with it or drank with it. Certain chemicals cause the body's metabolic rate to go up causing everything to start and end quicker. Plus, as Solumina translated from legal jargon to English, he already hit someone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sternn

.08% is the legal limit in most US states, which is easily achieved by two beers in many cases. It has nothing to do with your tolerance, you could be be a large man and be able to drink loads, the BAC is the same when you consume a certain amount of alcohol.

As an Irishman, I expected you to know a little more about alcohol buddy.

Body size has a LOT to do with alcohol tolerance.

I once drank 1.75 liters of Brandy in an hour and a half (it was a BAD day), that made my BAC about 0.86. I threw up like mad for about ten hours.

You put that alcohol level on someone who A) Isn't a heavy drinker normally and B) is much smalller than six two and two hundred pounds, and they would pass out and die. 0.86 is enough to kill two people. How I survived it? A) dumb luck B) I threw up, a lot C) My body built a tolerance to alcohol

If you don't think that BAC is related to size and tolerance in any way, you know nothing about alcohol.