Troutley - Did you stop the guy for his 22nd DUI??
07-10-2002 | 10:47 AM
#1
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Troutley - Did you stop the guy for his 22nd DUI??
I was just reading a story in the paper about the guy arrested for his 22nd DUI!!!! 
I'm thinking you made the stop and just wanted to say thank you for getting this idiot off the road.
Here's the story:
An Apple Valley man with 21 drunken-driving convictions has been charged again, less than a month before a state law takes effect that would make his offense a felony carrying a prison sentence of at least three years.
Until the law takes effect Aug. 1, all repeat drunken-driving convictions are gross misdemeanors with a maximum sentence of a year in jail.
Raymond J. Sherman, 39, appeared Tuesday in Dakota County District Court to face charges of first-and second-degree drunken driving and driving after license cancelation. He was being held in lieu of $12,000 bail, the maximum allowed for repeat drunken drivers.
After being stopped Sunday night and failing sobriety tests, Sherman told a state trooper that he would agree to the year in jail but wouldn't quit drinking or get treatment, court records show. Sherman said he wasn't concerned because drunken driving was not yet a felony. He added that he probably would have fled from the trooper if he weren't pulling a boat with his car when he was stopped.
The records show that Sherman had four drunken-driving and related convictions in Colorado in 1993 and '94 and 17 in Minnesota from 1982 until July 2000. His driver's license was revoked in 1984 and suspended in 1993.
"Unfortunately, he didn't wait until Aug. 2 to get this new offense," said Tona Dove, an assistant city attorney for West St. Paul.
Dove said the new law provides for a person with four drunken-driving convictions in 10 years to be charged with a felony after Aug. 1 and sent to prison for at least three years.
Dove said prosecutors will seek a two-year sentence, which state law allows if Sherman is convicted of both drunken driving and driving after license cancelation.
He was stopped about 11 p.m. Sunday near Butler Av. and Westchester Dr. in West St. Paul after being followed by a state trooper, who had noticed erratic driving, records show. Trooper xxxxxx found two open beer cans in Sherman's car and gave him a breath test, which indicated that he had a 0.16 percent blood alcohol level, above the legal limit of 0.10.
Sherman, who told xxxxxx that he had consumed three or more beers, was followed in another car by his wife. She said she came to pick him up after he dropped off the car and boat, according to the charging document. She was not charged.
State Patrol Capt. Jay Swanson said Sherman is one of the state's worst chronic drunken drivers. Swanson, commander of the patrol's East Metro area, said the car driven by Sherman was confiscated as allowed by law for his offense.
"It is certainly a concern to have somebody like this driving on our highways," Swanson said. "But a bigger concern is the very light sentences given for first-and second-time offenders. That is part of the reason we have so many people like Mr. Sherman. The courts are not getting their attention."
Minnesota has 36,000 drivers with at least four drunken-driving convictions, said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the state Public Safety Department. He said another 380,000 drivers have at least one, and noted that 211 Minnesotans died last year in alcohol-related crashes.
"When August 1 rolls around, any one of those 36,000 people will be eligible for a felony DWI if they get caught again," Smith said. The new law allows a sentence of three to seven years for a felony DWI conviction.
I'm thinking you made the stop and just wanted to say thank you for getting this idiot off the road.
Here's the story:
An Apple Valley man with 21 drunken-driving convictions has been charged again, less than a month before a state law takes effect that would make his offense a felony carrying a prison sentence of at least three years.
Until the law takes effect Aug. 1, all repeat drunken-driving convictions are gross misdemeanors with a maximum sentence of a year in jail.
Raymond J. Sherman, 39, appeared Tuesday in Dakota County District Court to face charges of first-and second-degree drunken driving and driving after license cancelation. He was being held in lieu of $12,000 bail, the maximum allowed for repeat drunken drivers.
After being stopped Sunday night and failing sobriety tests, Sherman told a state trooper that he would agree to the year in jail but wouldn't quit drinking or get treatment, court records show. Sherman said he wasn't concerned because drunken driving was not yet a felony. He added that he probably would have fled from the trooper if he weren't pulling a boat with his car when he was stopped.
The records show that Sherman had four drunken-driving and related convictions in Colorado in 1993 and '94 and 17 in Minnesota from 1982 until July 2000. His driver's license was revoked in 1984 and suspended in 1993.
"Unfortunately, he didn't wait until Aug. 2 to get this new offense," said Tona Dove, an assistant city attorney for West St. Paul.
Dove said the new law provides for a person with four drunken-driving convictions in 10 years to be charged with a felony after Aug. 1 and sent to prison for at least three years.
Dove said prosecutors will seek a two-year sentence, which state law allows if Sherman is convicted of both drunken driving and driving after license cancelation.
He was stopped about 11 p.m. Sunday near Butler Av. and Westchester Dr. in West St. Paul after being followed by a state trooper, who had noticed erratic driving, records show. Trooper xxxxxx found two open beer cans in Sherman's car and gave him a breath test, which indicated that he had a 0.16 percent blood alcohol level, above the legal limit of 0.10.
Sherman, who told xxxxxx that he had consumed three or more beers, was followed in another car by his wife. She said she came to pick him up after he dropped off the car and boat, according to the charging document. She was not charged.
State Patrol Capt. Jay Swanson said Sherman is one of the state's worst chronic drunken drivers. Swanson, commander of the patrol's East Metro area, said the car driven by Sherman was confiscated as allowed by law for his offense.
"It is certainly a concern to have somebody like this driving on our highways," Swanson said. "But a bigger concern is the very light sentences given for first-and second-time offenders. That is part of the reason we have so many people like Mr. Sherman. The courts are not getting their attention."
Minnesota has 36,000 drivers with at least four drunken-driving convictions, said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the state Public Safety Department. He said another 380,000 drivers have at least one, and noted that 211 Minnesotans died last year in alcohol-related crashes.
"When August 1 rolls around, any one of those 36,000 people will be eligible for a felony DWI if they get caught again," Smith said. The new law allows a sentence of three to seven years for a felony DWI conviction.
Last edited by Kohldog; 07-10-2002 at 10:56 AM.
07-10-2002 | 10:54 AM
#2
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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,965
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From: IL / LOTO
yep, that was him. i just got off the phone w/ him. he told me the whole story. thank you buford! ya da man.....
if it were me, i would have cut his arms off so there won't be a 23rd time. ....but that is just me.
if it were me, i would have cut his arms off so there won't be a 23rd time. ....but that is just me.
