By Associated Press
Athens, AL – Prosecutors and others plan to ask state legislators to add another amendment to the state's drunk driving law after an unintended change made in 2006 resulted in lighter sentences for some of the worst violators.
Legislators were trying to strengthen the state law on driving under the influence of alcohol when they amended it to let prosecutors and judges consider previous out-of-state DUI convictions when charging or sentencing.
But the change made it so prosecutors and judges can only consider convictions that go back five years.
The state Appeals Court reversed a judge's decision in a case involving Jeffery Hankins, who pleaded guilty to a July 2006 DUI charge in Sulligent.
Hankins' attorney argued that his client did not have the required number of DUI convictions to sentence him on the enhanced felony provision passed in 2006, which states that a person needs three prior convictions in the past five years.
The appellate court found that Hankins had seven prior DUI convictions but overturned the lower court's decision because only two of those occurred within five years of the current conviction.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)