Daniel Luhman drank heavily one night after listening to a message from his
live-in girlfriend saying she was going to spend a few days with another
man.
He climbed into a friend's car, drove from his rural home between Rockford
and Belvidere, and careened into a ditch. That night's drive resulted in his
ninth driving under the influence conviction.
And he does not remember any of it. He never does.
"I try to fool myself sometimes that I'll just have a little bit to drink
and I should know better," Luhman, 44, said. "After a while, I just don't
remember anything."
There are scores more like him, people who get chance after chance to remain
behind the wheel despite a slew of drunken driving convictions, a Daily
Herald investigation found.
Despite an increased awareness about the dangers of driving impaired and the
passage in Illinois of 24 drunken driving laws in the past four years,
motorists still regularly risk sharing the road with repeat drunken or
drugged drivers.
More than 160 people have at least five driving under the influence
convictions, according to a statewide Daily Herald study of people who had
accumulated multiple DUI offenses within a three-year period.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, whose office has in years past led
efforts to combat driving under the influence, called the numbers of those
with lengthy DUI records "mind boggling."
"Wow," he said. "I didn't know about those numbers. We want to do something
about those who want to mix alcohol and gas. We have to do something."
But he acknowledged there is no "silver bullet" solution to a complex crime
often driven by addiction.
Nearly 5,400 people have been convicted of driving drunk two or more times,
the paper's analysis showed. And 11,779 were offenders with one DUI
conviction and at least one court supervision or a license suspension for a
drunken driving arrest.
The Daily Herald examined complete public driving records of those who
received more than one drunken driving conviction or court action in
Illinois from 1996 to 1999.
State officials declined to provide records for every multiple DUI offender,
although many had multiple offenses outside the three-year period examined.
In fact, state officials said 185,049, licensed drivers have had more than
one drunken driving court action on their records since such data-keeping
began decades ago.
The actual number of repeat DUI offenders on Illinois' roads might be
smaller because many of those drivers may have moved or died and the
secretary of state's office has not been notified.
Over the past 12 years, deaths from alcohol-related crashes and DUI arrests
have declined, state figures show.
Still, in 1998, the most recent year for which figures are available, 599
people in Illinois died from alcohol-related crashes.
Comparing Illinois
Federal transportation studies show legal drivers with DUI convictions on
their records are six to 10 times more likely than others to repeat the
crime or be involved in an alcohol-related crash during the next year.
But secretary of state officials point to one statistic they say shows
Illinois' repeat DUI offender problem is not as bad as other states'.
Nationally, one-third of alcohol-related crash fatalities are caused by
drivers who have had a drunken-driving arrest within the previous three
years, compared with 20 percent in Illinois.
But a federal transportation expert said he is skeptical of the Illinois
percentage.
Don McNamara, a regional director for the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration who is based in Illinois and oversees it and five other
states, said: "So many times in Illinois a person is charged as a first
offender over and over again." First offenders typically receive supervision
rather than a conviction that would count toward identifying them later as
repeat offenders. "The Illinois records are such that I don't know that
they're a true reflection of the picture," McNamara said.
He believes Illinois' repeat offender population is higher because while 38
percent of all crash fatalities nationwide were alcohol-related in 1998, 43
percent of all Illinois crash fatalities were alcohol-related.
Percentage debates aside, it is clear Illinois still has thousands and
thousands of repeat drunken drivers.
The numbers beg a question: How can so many people still be allowed so many
chances to drive drunk and endanger themselves and others?
It happens because the legal system sets them back on the road.
Sanctions not working
Alcoholics and others frequently drink and drive without regard for whether
they have a valid license. They often don't show up for court. And when they
do, judges still have trouble with the concept of a long-term lockup for a
chronic offender, anti-drunken driving activists say.
"The judges in this state are very weak," said Itasca resident Charlene
Chapman, executive director of the Schaumburg-based Alliance Against
Intoxicated Motorists. "It's 'There but for the grace of God go I.'æ"
But Patrick McGann, the supervising judge for Cook County's traffic court,
points to several studies that have concluded jail time is the least
effective method for stopping DUI recidivism.
In Illinois, jail sentences typically are trimmed for good behavior, cases
are combined and one sentence rendered, previous convictions are ignored and
concurrent sentences are granted, the newspaper's study of a group of the
most chronic offenders showed.
"Obviously, the sanctions we have in place are not working for everyone,"
said Marti Belluschi, the secretary of state's DUI prevention adviser. "It
happens because they have a flagrant disregard for the law, but also because
they have a serious alcohol problem that impairs not only their driving, but
many other decisions as well."
A comparison of the driving histories of a sample group of 10 chronic
drunken driving offenders and recent court cases involving drunken
driving-related deaths showed judges typically handed out prison sentences
longer than two years only in cases in which drunken drivers were convicted
of reckless homicide.
The state, court and corrections records of those chronic offenders from
northern Illinois demonstrate the difficulty of stopping repeat drunken
drivers.
Those 10 drivers had tallied a total of 62 charges for driving while their
licenses were revoked or suspended.
That finding mirrors others. Federal transportation officials cite one study
that found 61 percent of third-time DUI offenders had violations or crash
citations during license suspensions.
Luhman, one of the 10 chronic offenders, was out on bond and facing his
latest drunken driving charge when he got drunk and drove a friend's car
into a ditch.
He admits to frequently escaping detection.
"The DUIs? There should be a hundred there for all the times I didn't get
caught," he said in an interview.
Why do chronic repeat offenders like Luhman keep getting behind the wheel
after drinking?
"You're not thinking. You start drinking. You don't even think about the
car. You focus on what your excuse is for drinking," Luhman said. "I even
moved above a bar once. It still didn't work."
Addison resident Steven M. Poulopoulos, who has 10 DUI convictions, said he
hasn't had a valid license in 26 years.
Poulopoulos, 43, said his attitude at the time was: "What do I care? I don't
need a license. I'll do whatever I want." Serving a 54-month sentence for
aggravated battery at a downstate correctional center, Poulopoulos now says:
"I believe that when you do wrong, you pay for it. I drank. Thank God no one
got hurt. But I'm paying for it."
Jail times shortened
Luhman, Poulopoulos and eight other chronic offenders have racked up 86 DUI
convictions amongst them.
The 10 chronic offenders all have served jail or prison time for drunken
driving and/or other crimes. But they typically serve much less time than
the sentence imposed because of good behavior and other credits.
Five of the offenders are in county, state or federal lockups. One was
deported to Mexico by immigration officials after his last jail sentence.
Four are out on the streets, with one still required to report to parole
officials.
None of their records indicates they have injured or killed anyone while
driving drunk, but they've all been given chance after chance to get back on
the road.
"When people don't think the law applies to them, what do you do?" said the
secretary of state's Belluschi. "It's a difficult question to answer. I do
think in some cases I would encourage them (judges) to pick the maximum
sentences, not the minimum."
But judges who have dealt with some of the worst repeat drunken drivers the
newspaper studied rarely imposed maximum sentences. For instance:
- Arlington Heights resident Patrick Kolman received probation for a DUI conviction in 1996 at a time when he had five previous convictions and three others pending from the same year, according to Cook County state's attorney documents.
Then and now, Illinois law allowed for possible imprisonment for one to
three years or probation for third or subsequent DUI convictions. The
current penalty for first and second convictions is a maximum of one year in
jail.
Kolman, who has a total of nine DUI convictions, has been in and out of
jail, typically receiving one-year sentences for many of his drunken driving
crimes.
- Former Naperville resident Kenneth Davis was arrested and charged with
drunken driving in 1995. He had seven previous DUI convictions then, but was
sentenced to 44 days in the Will County jail after already serving 22 days
for his eighth conviction. Davis has been convicted of driving under the
influence 12 times, but, according to available court records, the longest
sentence he ever received was two years.
- Former Waukegan resident Arturo Barrera received one year's court
supervision for his first DUI conviction in 1986. For his third conviction,
in 1992, he got a year's probation and 90 days in jail. In 1994, Barrera,
who has since been deported, was charged with his first felony DUI. He was
convicted, but the sentence handed down was six months' jail time and two
years' probation.
Later, Barrera received one sentence including three years' intensive
probation and one year of work release for two more felony DUIs. He tested
positive for alcohol during work release and was resentenced to three years
in prison, 30 months' probation and another year on work release. He served
less than a year in prison and was deported shortly after his release.
- Luhman did receive stiff jail sentences for his eighth and ninth DUI
convictions. He now is serving time concurrently in the Dixon Correctional
Center for a six-year sentence on a felony DUI conviction and a five-year
felony DUI sentence from Boone and Winnebago counties in northern Illinois.
"The time I got, I can't say it's unfair," he said. "It's what could've
happened that worries me."
Luhman's situation illustrates how quickly drunken drivers can return,
illegally, to the roads: Luhman likely will serve a total of only 2 years
and seven months with time credited for good behavior.
"They can't keep me forever," Luhman said. "Incarceration is good for punishment, but it's not a solution to the problem."
Deterrents elusive
Mandatory treatment programs also might not help. "I could go to
counseling," he said, "but if I didn't want it to do any good, it wouldn't."
McGann, the supervising judge of the Chicago Traffic Center, defended DUI
sentences he and other judges impose. He noted several national studies have
demonstrated jail time is not a strong deterrent for stopping people from
becoming repeat drunken drivers.
"The problem with incarceration is they go in, come out and nothing has
changed except the date," he said.
Brad Fralick, executive director of the state chapter of Mothers Against
Drunk Driving, said: "There are good judges out there. There are a lot of
them."
But, he noted, many also may become anesthetized to DUI, become concerned
with packing prisons or simply may have difficulty viewing a DUI conviction
without injury or death as seriously as murder or other crimes.
AAIM's Chapman recognizes it's not possible to lock repeat drunken drivers
away for good. She advocates an intensive probation program that would
require chronic DUI offenders report to probation officers more frequently
than normal, submit to random urine tests, complete drunken driving-related
community service and attend Alcoholics Anonymous and other treatment
programs.
Poulopoulos said intensive alcohol counseling in prison finally has changed
him, but he knows others won't change.
"If the public believes that just locking a figure up and just prosecuting
them is the answer, then they should look at the prisons," he said. "These
people are locked up, but then they get out and go right back out onto the
street and do it again."
Jail or prison time certainly doesn't appear to have forced a change in
behavior of many of the 10 repeat drunken drivers studied.
Four of the worst northern Illinois offenders also have been charged with
other crimes including, theft, arson, aggravated battery and domestic
battery.
That mirrors the common characteristics in a federal study of repeat drunken
drivers. Many chronic offenders commit other crimes, it concluded. Those
people tend to be in the lower income range and have no more than a high
school education.
But the newspaper study demonstrates repeat drunken drivers can be found in
low-, middle- and high-income communities. The study found 71 percent of the
worst offenders - with five or more convictions - lived in Chicago or the
collar counties.
Men tend to be the chronic offenders. Of those with five or more
convictions, 92 percent were male.
Another pattern found in the newspaper's chronic offenders' study was that
of court officials frequently merging several DUI charges into one hearing
and rendering one sentence. Separate DUI charges were combined for seven of
the 10 chronic offenders. In one instance, Poulopoulos pleaded guilty to six
DUI charges and received one sentence: 180 days in county jail, two years'
probation and counseling.
Susan McKay, the ex-wife of nine-time DUI offender Kolman, saw charges
against him combined too many times.
"The court system is the worst I've seen," she said. "If the courts can't
stop him, how can they expect me to?"
Working for remedies
McGann said he is working on eliminating some of the court system's problems
and conducts annual training programs to encourage judges to take drunken
driving seriously.
He said he is overseeing the implementation of a new effort in Cook County
to funnel drunken drivers into separate groups, sentenced and tracked
differently depending on their full criminal history and more extensive
criminal, psychological and addiction histories.
"We will have more success with repeat drunk drivers if we treat them based
on their history," he said.
Illinois legislators did pass a law directed at repeat drunken drivers in
1998 that mandates a lifetime loss of driving privileges for anyone who is
convicted of four or more DUI charges. It also gives prosecutors discretion
to seize the cars of those caught driving while their licenses are revoked
or suspended because of a DUI action, and it raised license reinstatement
fees to $250.
Secretary of State White said he and advisers are considering further
remedies to try to stop chronic drunken drivers, including increasing the
length of license revocations, making greater efforts to disable repeat
offenders' cars, seizing more vehicles and increasing both jail times and
alcohol treatment requirements.
White's DUI prevention adviser Belluschi has endured the pain that drunken
driving can cause from two perspectives. At 15, a car she was in with her
father was hit by a drunken driver. She crashed through the front window and
almost died as a result. A few years later, her favorite cousin got drunk,
drove and caused the deaths of himself and two others.
Drunken driving wasn't taken as seriously 15 years ago as it is now,
Belluschi said, but further attitude adjustments are in order.
"If a drunk took a gun and shot randomly, he might kill someone, he might
not, but people would be outraged. If a drunk gets behind the wheel of a
car, he might kill someone and he might not," Belluschi said. "The public
needs to find the same outrage for this crime."
Daily Herald staff writers Tony Gordon, Chris Fusco, Christy Gutowski, Sean
D. Hamill, Bill Cole, David Mann and Cass Cliatt conducted research for this
report.
