
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 21, 1990                   TAG: 9007210186
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MAN GETS YEAR FOR DUI

A Roanoke jury has recommended that a drunken driver serve a maximum, 12-month jail sentence - the toughest punishment for drunken driving that city prosecutors could recall.

The verdict came after a daylong trial Thursday in Roanoke Circuit Court for Carl T. Terry, who had appealed an earlier drunken driving conviction from General District Court.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Mac Doubles presented evidence that Terry, a 52-year-old electrical contractor, had been convicted of drunken driving twice before.

"This was his third DUI in about 18 months," Doubles said. "He had two other chances and he kept drinking and driving, so we argued that the only way to stop him was incarceration."

First-time offenders often receive a suspended jail sentence for drunken driving. Repeat offenders are subject to a mandatory jail sentence, but the terms usually are relatively brief.

Testimony in Terry's case showed that he had a blood-alcohol content of .22 percent - more than twice the limit at which someone is considered too drunk to drive - when he was arrested earlier this year on Salem Avenue.

by CNB