Saturday, May 4

Texas man will get life in jail after his ninth drunk driving conviction

A Texas man has been sentenced to life in jail by a jury after his ninth conviction for driving whereas intoxicated.

Christopher Stanford, 50, elected to have a jury resolve his destiny after he pleaded responsible Monday to driving whereas intoxicated. The jury in Parker County, Texas, selected life in jail. 

Stanford’s Aug. 15, 2022 arrest was his first within the county. His earlier eight DWI expenses have been in 4 different Texas counties, all a part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. He has 4 earlier jail sentences for driving whereas intoxicated.

Stanford was handled as a routine offender, mentioned Parker County District Attorney Jeff Swain.

“His record showed that he was going to continue endangering communities throughout the metroplex unless he was locked up,” he mentioned. 

In his newest drunk driving incident, Stanford ran his Lincoln MKC by way of a purple gentle, rear-ending a Kia Sorento. After the crash, Stanford ran, saying that he needed to go or in any other case he can be in bother.

The occupants of the Sorento — a married couple and their daughter — suffered minor accidents.

Stanford proceeded to flee on foot, scaling a barbed wire fence, ripping his clothes and struggling cuts within the course of. About half-hour after the crash, officers discovered Stanford hiding in vegetation.

Stanford had bother standing up and was belligerent with officers, together with headbutting an emergency response employee that tried to assist him, prosecutors mentioned. 

Stanford refused a roadside sobriety take a look at however agreed to present a blood pattern for testing after he was arrested. The blood take a look at confirmed an alcohol focus of 0.267, greater than thrice the authorized restrict in Texas of 0.08.

Stanford testified at trial that he was “very unlucky.”

“I thought his testimony showed a lack of personal insight that was manifested in his lack of concern for others on our roads. In our case, he was not just intoxicated, he was flat-out drunk,” Assistant District Attorney Skyler Schoolfield mentioned. 

The jury took solely 90 minutes to resolve Stanford wanted to be locked up for all times on Tuesday.

Stanford will likely be eligible for parole as soon as his time served plus good time credit score equals to fifteen years. Releasing Stanford from jail will likely be on the discretion of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com