Published Thursday, September 14, 2000
LAWRENCE COUNTY
13th bust puts drunken driver in jail, spotlight
NEW CASTLE (AP) -- A Lawrence County man will spend 16 to 28 months in prison for his 13th drunken driving conviction.His attorney, however, was more upset about the prosecution’s strategy to turn his client into an advertisement for tougher drunken driving laws.
Defense attorney Stephen Delpero said Randall Lee Hall, 44, of Ellwood City, could have received up to 3 to 5½ years in prison. But Delpero complained to Lawrence County Judge Dominick Motto that prosecutors instead offered Hall the minimum sentence then turned him into "shark bait" by publicizing the sentence on Tuesday.
"I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t think it’s proper," Delpero said.
Assistant District Attorney Robert Barletta said Hall’s case should be an example to push for a law to make drunken driving a felony after a fourth or fifth offense.
Hall’s license is suspended through the year 2025 because of 13 drunken driving convictions and 12 for driving with a suspended license in the past 20 years.
Hall said he had attended Alcoholics Anonymous for several years and had gone four years without a drunken driving arrest before New Castle police caught him drunk behind the wheel on June 19.
"I’m sorry. I’ve been doing good. I go to meetings. I dedicated my life to this. I know I need help. I know it’s not going away. Whenever I get out (of prison) I’m going right back to my meetings," Hall said.