Thread: Prosecutor defends prior leniency given DWI suspect

Prosecutor defends prior leniency given DWI suspect
Illegal immigrant with three DWIs is now accused of intoxicated manslaughter
March 29, 2007, 12:30AM

By CINDY HORSWELL



A Harris County prosecutor, criticized for negotiating in 2005 a reduced drunken driving penalty for a man now accused of intoxicated manslaughter in the deaths of two women, said Wednesday that she thinks a jury would have been equally lenient.

"I was trying to find the best resolution for this case based on the facts, defendant's criminal history and what I think a jury might do. Juries aren't as hard-core as you think," said Colleen Barnett, the assistant Harris County district attorney who arranged for a third DWI charge against Ignacio Gomez-Gutierrez to be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor in 2005.

But she added, "In my wildest dreams, I would not wish anybody to be hurt, for something bad like this to happen. It's awful."

If convicted of a felony in the 2005 case, Gomez-Gutierrez would have faced two to 10 years in prison.

On Sunday, Gomez-Gutierrez was driving with a blood-alcohol content that was three times the legal limit when he plowed into the rear of a car on U.S. 59 near the entrance to Kingwood, investigators said. The car's occupants, Maria Ortiz and her daughter, Vanessa, who was five months pregnant, died instantly.

Gomez-Gutierrez, a 25-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico, is now facing his fourth drunken driving charge. But this time it has been elevated to two counts of intoxicated manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid. Investigators say he fled from his disabled vehicle after the wreck.

The handling of Gomez-Gutierrez's case has sparked criticism from victim advocates. They say they are upset not only for what they call lenient sentences but because immigration officials did not deport him after he finished serving time on three prior DWI convictions in 2002, 2004 and 2005.

In the third DWI incident, Gomez-Gutierrez was stopped for running a stop sign in Harris County. Officers then recorded that he had a strong alcohol odor and failed a field sobriety test.

In the previous two convictions he had been sentenced to 60 days and then 10 days in jail and was incarcerated about half that time, she said.

In her experience, Barnett said juries usually do not want to send DWI offenders to prison if they have not injured anyone or been in an accident. "They like to put them on probation and force them to have treatment. But we have an illegal immigrant who would probably flee," she said.

Nonetheless, she gave him two choices:

•Plead guilty to a felony and receive five years probation, 30 days confinement, $500 fine, 160 hours of community service and substance abuse treatment.

•Or plead guilty to a misdemeanor and spend a year in county jail.

He selected the jail sentence and, with good time, was released in six months, records showed.

Harris County Sheriff's Sgt. Dana Wolfe said federal immigration authorities are notified whenever an illegal immigrant is booked into the jail, like Gomez-Gutierrez.

"They then had an opportunity to place them on hold (for deportation). But it was totally up to them," she said.

cindy.horswell@chron.com



http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 70683.html

No accountabilty

I was trying to find the best resolution for this case based on the facts, defendant's criminal history and what I think a jury might do. Juries aren't as hard-core as you think," said Colleen Barnett, the assistant Harris County district attorney

Welll lady you more than screwed up! You should be thrown off the bench. Your judgement is horrible.

This illegal alien DRUNK has been stopped 3 times for the same DWI offense, and he is in the country illegally. How many more chances should he have gotten? He should have been deported at once, and this murder wouldn't have happened.
I think the prosecutor and ICE should be held accountable.

Killed Maria Ortiz and her daughter, Vanessa, who was five months pregnant, died instantly.