DWI LOOPHOLES PRESENT BREAKS TO REPEAT OFFENDERS (FIRST OF THREE PARTS)

A state law enacted two years ago to discourage habitual drunks from driving contains loopholes, say officials and families who have been victimized by drunk drivers.

The 1993 law allows for successive DWI charges to carry more punishment for each conviction and elevates municipal charges to carry the same weight as state charges.

But restrictions and criteria in the law have some people who repeatedly get behind the wheel drunk being charged as first-time offenders.

An example surfaced this year in the Cape Girardeau County case filed against Johnny Wayne Newell Jr.

Newell, 28, of Jackson was charged in June with driving while intoxicated. Prosecutors were forced to charge him as a first-time offender, although Newell isn't new to alcohol-related offenses. In fact, his drinking and driving killed a Jackson woman seven years ago. He also was convicted of DWI in 1983.

Cathy A. Wilson, 21, was killed Nov. 5, 1988, on Route D north of Jackson. She left home for beautician school about 7 a.m., but minutes later her car collided head-on with a pickup driven by Newell. Wilson died at the scene.

According to records at the Cape Girardeau County circuit clerk's office in Jackson, Trooper Lee Ann Horn -- the first officer at the accident scene -- smelled an "extremely strong" odor of alcohol from Newell. A blood sample taken from Newell revealed a blood-alcohol content of .193 percent, almost twice the legal limit of .10 percent.

Newell spent 14 months of a four-year sentence behind bars after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

So why was he charged in July as a first-time offender?

Newell's previous DWI-related charge, involuntary manslaughter, occurred seven years ago. Under Missouri law, Newell can't be charged with the enhanced penalty unless his second offense occurred within five years of the first conviction.

Newell also wasn't charged with felony DWI because his first conviction was in 1983, 12 years ago. To be charged with felony DWI, Newell would have to be charged with and convicted for two other DWIs within 10 years.

Wilson's father, Charlie Wilson, doesn't understand the logic behind the laws dealing with DWI offenders.

"If you get drunk, get a gun and shoot somebody, or if you get drunk, get a bat and beat somebody to death, it's murder," he said. "But if you get drunk, get in a car and kill someone, it's manslaughter. That doesn't make any sense to me. A car should be classified as a deadly weapon too."

It doesn't make any sense to Wilson's mother, Loretta Wilson, either.

She won't ever see her daughter again, but the man convicted of killing her lives near the Wilson's home. She sees him all the time.

"And what bothers me most is at the trial -- at the sentencing -- he told the judge that he really didn't feel like it was his fault," Loretta Wilson said. "Whose fault was it then?"

The Wilsons can't understand why their daughter's killer faces a misdemeanor charge of DWI when he previously has been convicted of a felony drinking-related offense.

Newell's trial on the misdemeanor DWI charge is scheduled for Dec. 26. Since he was charged as a first-time offender, he faces a maximum penalty of six months in the county jail.

Before the new law, municipal charges didn't carry the same weight as state charges. For many people who drank and drove, a municipal DWI charge simply meant a fine, and the number of DWI convictions were meaningless.

After passage of the new law, getting caught behind the wheel drunk -- regardless of whether state or municipal charges are filed -- became a criminal conviction. With each successive DWI conviction, an enhanced DWI charge can be filed.

A first-offense DWI is a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in the county jail; a second-offense DWI is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in the county jail; and a third-offense DWI is a class D felony, punishable by five years in prison.

Sunday: Law enforcement officials agree DWI laws need tightening.