Article reprinted with permission THE HUNTSVILLE TIMES LIBRARY - 11/02/97 New Law Extends DUI Convictions' Shelf Life to Forever

BY: AMY FRENCH
Times Staff Writer

A change in Alabama law took effect Oct. 1 to make DUI convictions impossible to live down.

Under the original law, which the Legislature amended in May, DUI convictions had a five-year shelf life. After five years, convictions dropped from the driver's record and couldn't count against the driver in court if he or she were charged with DUI again.

Now, the conviction is on a driver's record forever.

"We're real pleased," said Sgt. Steve Lowhorne, supervisor of the Huntsville Police Department's DUI Task Force. "We hope this sends, again, a message that DUI is a serious crime."

The amendment also changed the criteria under which a DUI charge becomes a felony.

The original law designated a driver's fourth DUI conviction in five years as a felony; the first three were considered misdemeanors. Because the timing applied to conviction dates, not arrest dates, court backlogs could result in the reduction of a felony to a misdemeanor. Defense lawyers often stalled to give clients' old convictions time to expire before the court date on a new charge, Lowhorne said. "They found the loophole," he said, "and they used it."

A felony conviction might not bring a higher fine or more time behind bars than a misdemeanor. That's largely up to the judge, said T.C. Bill, head probation officer in Madison County's district court.

But, Bill said, felony sentences are served in state prison, whereas misdemeanor sentences are served in city or county jails. Also, felony convicts lose some of their civil and political rights, including the rights to hold or run for public office and to hold certain state licenses, such as licenses to practice law or medicine. Police asked legislators to change the law so that felony designations pivoted on dates of arrest instead of conviction. The Legislature took the idea a step further and threw out the idea of a five-year shelf life altogether.

"It was long overdue," said Rep. Randy Hinshaw, a Meridianville Democrat who voted for the amendment. "Usually, that's what happens. We have to play catch-up after problems are discovered."

The law needed to work harder against habitual offenders, Hinshaw said. "I mean, everybody makes mistakes, but my goodness gracious." The amendment also raised DUI fines $100.

Phillip Price, a local lawyer who specializes in DUI defense, said the amended law is more politically correct than just.

Convictions for driving drunk often occur early in life or during times of crisis, such as divorce, he said. Price questioned the fairness of using old mistakes against someone who drives the straight and narrow for 20 years, then is caught driving after drinking at a social function - "maybe for the museum of art," he said.

"All of a sudden, they're a felon," Price said. "I have mixed feelings about it."

Price predicted the amended law will lead more DUI suspects to fight charges, instead of pleading guilty, and to demand trials by jury, which will increase court backlogs.

"Absolutely, there will be more litigation," he said. "It will be more expensive on the system. More expensive on the client." But, Price said, the law will increase the demand for DUI defense attorneys. "I think it's probably going to add another thousand square feet to my house."

As of Oct. 31, 31 people had been charged with felony DUI in Huntsville since the amended law took effect, Lowhorne said. That averages one a day.