Saturday, March 29, 2008

Judge brings DWI court to high school

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Belen One by one, five DWI offenders stood on stage at the Belen High School auditorium and told hundreds of students why they shouldn't drink and drive. As they were handcuffed, shackled and led away by jail guards after being sentenced for their crime, the students heard the message.

Magistrate Danny Hawkes brought the Courts to School program to Belen High School Thursday not to punish the offenders, all who had pleaded guilty to their second DWI, but to show the teens that there are consequences to their actions. Hawkes says that the exposure to the actual workings of the criminal justice system is a prevention tactic that he hopes will linger in the students' minds as prom and graduation season approaches.

"As a judiciary prevention initiative, we are reaching out to our youth to educate and illuminate the devastating consequences of drinking and driving," Hawkes said.

All five defendants sentenced Thursday volunteered for the program and will be given a break on the number of community service hours they will have to complete. Each defendant was sentenced to the mandatory minimum of four days in the county jail, fined $715 and will be required to attend DWI school, go through a screening process, install an interlock device on their vehicles, attend a victim impact panel, wear an alcohol detecting ankle bracelet and be placed on supervised probation for the next year.

On Dec. 28, 2007, 47-year-old Anthony Romero of Los Lunas was arrested for DWI after rear-ending another car on Main Street in Los Lunas. He failed a field sobriety test and refused to take a breathalyzer test.

Looking at the hundreds of high school students, Romero admitted having a drinking problem. He told the teenagers that he hopes they don't travel the same path he did.

"I've done the wrong things in life," Romero said. "Drinking is a big problem ... and I didn't hurt nobody or kill nobody, but if I did, I would have to deal with that for the rest of my life.

"I damaged myself, but I'll get strong. I hope nobody goes through what I'm going through."

Paul Montoya, a 37-year-old Belen resident, was arrested on Dec. 1, 2007, after being stopped at 2 a.m. while driving through Los Chavez. The officer who stopped Montoya noticed that he had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes. He refused to do both a field sobriety test and breathalyzer, telling the officer that he knew he couldn't pass them.

"It's not nice to drink and drive," Montoya told the students. "I beg you and ask you guys, please don't drink and drive because, if you do, you'll be up here with me or with somebody else. I'm not proud of myself because I know some of you people out here, and I just want you to know not to do it. It's not worth it."

Los Lunas resident Jeffrey Rael, 38, was arrested in late November after an officer noticed he was driving without his headlights on. Once he was pulled over, he stepped out of his vehicle and told the officer that he wasn't driving. The officer smelled the odor of alcohol on Rael's breath, and the man subsequently failed three different field sobriety tests.

"I graduated from this high school in 1987," Rael told the students. "How I wish I could go back and do things over again and make the right decisions. There's an epidemic out there, and people are getting killed.

"I'm very thankful for this program, and it's helped me a lot. I've been sober for two months, and I plan on keeping it that way. You all are still young, and I hope you all make the right decisions."

Marlene Chavez, 43, of Los Lunas, was arrested on Dec. 16 in Peralta after she was pulled over on N.M. 47 for a faulty headlight. After she failed a field sobriety test, officers found a bottle of whiskey, which was two-thirds empty, in her front pocket.

"I lost my house, I lost my kids ...," Chavez said. "It's not a good thing to be drinking and driving because you're stuck on the bottom and have to fight your way up. I have to look at all you guys, and you see me in this community as a drunk driver.

"I hope you kids learn from my mistakes," Chavez said. "You guys don't want to go to jail — you have no freedom there, you have no rights. It's embarrassing, but I'm the one who put myself here."

In mid-February, 21-year-old Aaron Torres was arrested for DWI after he was stopped by a Belen police officer. The officer noted that when Torres got out of his vehicle, he could barely stand up and had to hold on to the vehicle's door for balance.

"The best thing I can say to you guys is I know you're in high school, but don't do the partying," Torres said. "You don't want to end up in my shoes — facing jail time. It's not worth it; I've lost a lot already. All I can say is don't start or you'll go through what I'm going through."

Edward Chavez, the Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court, attended Thursday's event and said he was very impressed by the program. He said he believes it sends a powerful message to the community, especially to the students.

"Students go to school, so they don't get a chance to attend court proceedings and see what the legal consequences are for drinking and driving," Justice Chavez said. "I know that we talk day in and day out about what the dangers are and see lives change and people killed as a result of this, but they don't see what the legal consequences are and how it affects them as a person, their job and their families.

"It's all very powerful messages, and I think a program like this helps to deter the youth from engaging in this behavior," Chavez added. "This is groundbreaking, and Judge Hawkes has done a wonderful job. We have very dedicated and professional magistrates, who are not lawyers by the way, who do this day in and day out. I think you saw punishment tempered by mercy, but I also think you saw rehabilitation today."

Belen High School senior Jessica Merino sat in the audience listening and watching the court proceeding Thursday and all she could think about was her family and what could happen to them if they were injured or killed by a drunk driver.

"We see it, and we know there's people out there who drink and drive, but it never really hits home," Merino said. "These people are in our town, and they could have hurt my little brother, my mom or one of my friends. I feel that they (the defendants) were embarrassed and it was degrading to them, and it should be."

Merino said that the five people who spoke to them may not have hurt anyone as a result of their crime, but they could have. While Merino admits that she hasn't always made the right choices in the past, she now realizes that she never wants to be in the same position as those who were sentenced on Thursday.

Elizabeth Sluder, another BHS senior, said she thought the whole process of Thursday's court proceedings was very interesting and it opened her eyes to the effects of drinking and driving. She said she learned something new.

"I never actually realized how much it actually changes lives," Sluder said. "I always knew that there's people always drinking and driving and being stupid with their actions, but I really never thought about their entire lives being taken away from them."

While watching the defendants being taken away in handcuffs, Sluder said she didn't feel bad for any one of them.

"They're the one's who made the decision to drink and drive and not to call someone," she said. "They were the ones who endangered all of us on the road, and I think they deserve to go to jail and have a harsh punishment."

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