Drunk Driving Homicide Convictions Still Yielding Minimal Sentences

A Milwaukee man ends up with a year in the House of Corrections, with six months of work release, for driving drunk and killing man.

The man admitted his crime to police and pleaded no contest to the charge.


Flight from the scene of the crime and prior OWI convictions do not seem to be present in the case, according to a preliminary story on the Journal Sentinel's Newswatch blog.

I'll reprint the first few paragraphs below.

I know incarceration does not bring a victim back to life, but the message in the sentencing seems to be that drunk driving homicide on a major Milwaukee street is still is not a big enough social outrage to offend the court.

From the paper's blog:

MONDAY, July 21, 2008, 12:26 p.m.By Crocker Stephenson
Driver sentenced in drunk driving death

A 42-year-old Milwaukee man was sentenced this morning to a year in the House of Correction for a February drunk-driving death.

Alan T. Pointer struck and killed Percy Chambers on Feb. 7, around 10:50 p.m., as Chambers was crossing the 2400 block of King Dr.

Las month, Pointer pleaded no contest to homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle.