Only Prison Could Get this Drunk Driver Off the Road
Bobby Gene Martin’s almost 35 years of drunk driving are over. At 64, Bobby Gene Martin received two life sentences for DWI and for threatening to kill a law enforcement officer and his family. Mr. Martin will serve his sentences concurrently and won’t be eligible for parole until he is 80 years old.
Mr. Martin faced 25 years to life in this case because of his status as a habitual offender. Completely unaware of his prior history, jurors spent three hours deliberating before deciding to convict Mr. Martin of DWI.
The habitual offender was convicted for DUI for the first time in 1981. Upon Mr. Martin’s eighth DWI sentence, he was sentenced to 15 years of incarceration.
Then his ninth DUI in 2009 landed him in prison only for one year. In that incident, Mr. Martin’s vehicle landed in a drainage ditch. Officers found him passed out lying across the bench seat with the vehicle’s motor still running. The police were able to wake him, but he was so intoxicated that he fell asleep again while he searched for his driver’s license.
Finally, his 10th DWI was the nail in the coffin. Had he been allowed back on the road, he would eventually have killed an innocent person, there is no doubt in my mind. This sentiment was echoed by Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kyle Crow who prosecuted the case when he told the jury, “”It is amazing he hasn’t killed anyone yet.”
Tow Driver Refused to Let Drunk Driver Get Away With It
The final nail in Mr. Martin’s coffin occurred on August 2nd of last year when he wrecked his mother’s pickup truck on a Montgomery County road. Other drivers called 911 to report the crash, but a tow truck arrived at the scene beforehand. Mr. Martin asked the tow truck driver to give him a ride home so he could avoid getting another DWI. Thankfully, the driver refused. Police officers soon arrived and found the wrecked vehicle but no driver. A search of the area uncovered Mr. Martin in a drainage ditch in waist-deep water. He had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.217 percent, a shocking two and one-half times the legal limit in Texas.
Demand Stricter DWI Sentences for Repeat Offenders in Texas
Bobby Gene Martin will likely never get behind the wheel again — but, only after getting caught 10 times driving drunk. Surely, he actually drove drunk many more times when he wasn’t caught.
Mr. Martin was just lucky he did not kill someone before he was finally sent away for life. In a case winding its way slowly through the Texas courts, Stewart Richardson was just 44 years old in 2009 when he ran into a vehicle carrying two year-oldĀ Abdallah Khader. The little boy suffered severe brain damage and died last month of his injuries. Prosecutors are appealing a trial court decision that would authorize a judge to sentence Mr. Richardson to a maximum of 20 years, despite his history of six prior DUIs.
Texas lawmakers can protect drivers by allowing judges to impose stricter penalties on repeat offenders. These repeat drunk drivers won’t stop unless they are incarcerated.
Berenson Law Firm representsĀ victims in DWI crashes. Call 817-885-8000 from the Dallas-Fort Worth area or 888-801-8585 toll-free to schedule a free no-obligation consultation. We are here to help you recover the compensation you deserve.