Berlin: Probation in fatal DUIs won't deter DuPage prosecutors
DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin says his office will continue to strongly prosecute drunken driving cases, despite rulings by judges in two recent fatal DUI crashes that kept the offenders out of prison.
In the past three weeks, family members of deceased victims have twice successfully pleaded with judges to keep the impaired drivers who killed their loved ones out of prison. And in both cases, the judges said the support shown for the defendants by those family members was among the factors weighing on their decisions.
Berlin's office sought prison sentences of six and 20 years, respectively, in the cases where the defendants pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI.
"Each of those cases were charged appropriately, but judges are given a tremendous amount of discretion and they have the authority to give probationary sentences if they believe extraordinary circumstances exist," Berlin said. "All I can say is that while we made a recommendation in each case, I respect the judges' decision in both of those cases."
Judge Daniel Guerin ruled Feb. 19 that there were enough extraordinary circumstances in the case against William Decero, including Decero's character and sincere apology, to warrant not sending him to the penitentiary for killing his best friend of 50 years in a DUI crash.
Guerin said he also considered the plea by Maureen Fitzsimons, whose husband, Thomas, was killed in the September 2013 crash in Oak Brook.
Prosecutors sought a six-year prison sentence but Decero was sentenced to four years of probation, one year of periodic imprisonment in the DuPage County jail, and 200 community service hours. He also was ordered to participate in a victim impact panel and submit to random drug and alcohol tests.
On Thursday, Judge Brian Telander ruled extraordinary circumstances also were in play in the case of Michael Szot, the 23-year-old Geneva man whose drunken driving crash killed two people, including his best friend, when he drove into a 45-foot-deep lake in a Naperville quarry.
"Every other aspect (of his life) has been exemplary," Telander said before sentencing Szot to a sentence of four years of probation, one year of work release jail time and 200 hours of community service. "In this case, representatives of both (victims') families told me they hold no malice for the defendant. In fact, they hold him in their prayers."
Berlin said the wishes of victims and their families always are taken into consideration when prosecutors make sentencing recommendations.
"It's a balancing act. Victims' wishes are a significant factor for us to consider, but not the only factor," Berlin said. "My job is to represent the interests of the entire county and we do that in every case."
Berlin said the recent rulings are the nature of the system.
"Judge Guerin and Judge Telander are both experienced trial judges who have a tremendous understanding of the law, so I don't think it's fair to look at these two cases in a vacuum and say there's a trend or a pattern," Berlin said. "It's just the nature of the criminal justice system. (It's an) adversarial system. Certain times judges agree. Other times they don't. It's the nature of the system."
Despite the two most recent sentences, Berlin doesn't want anyone to get the impression DuPage is softening on drinking and driving.
"My office has always taken a very hard stance on drunken driving and we're going to continue to do so," Berlin said. "Drinking and driving poses a tremendous threat to every citizen in this county and we're going to continue to prosecute those cases every time."