In an ongoing blog series about serial driving under the influence (DUI) offender, here is another case of a person who needs to become a permanent pedestrian.
James Vernon Smith Jr. says he's not your typical drunk. According to TBO.com, the 48-year-old former underwater welder who lives in Louisiana has been convicted of DUI for the 10th time. Ten DUIs – are you kidding me? Is this guy ever sober?
How much mercy should the court have for a man begging for it in behalf of his two young daughters? Perhaps 10 years behind bars is the mercy he needs. Perhaps in jail he can get sober.
More prisons are offering alcohol classes and offering counseling and support for their inmates suffering from addiction issues.
Smith said he was ashamed and sorry for his actions, and he cried and paused often while reading a handwritten letter in court.
He was arrested in August 2011 and charged with his 10th DUI. Oh yeah, was also driving on a permanently revoked driver's license.
How sorry is he? After getting bail on his 10th DUI he was arrested for his 11th a few weeks later!
On a positive note, if there is one, only two of his arrests involved wrecks, and they were minor. No one has ever been hurt.
Smith's received his first DUI more than 30 years ago and had his license permanently revoked in 1984.
Another sad case where addiction to alcohol becomes a person’s primary motivator. Smith’s priorities were not his family and two young daughters, it was booze. Hopefully he will get sober in prison and stay that way once he gets out.