Laws are written so that they are sufficiently simple that they apply in all situations, and yet they are flexible enough to account for the variety among individual cases. For example, criminal laws have a range of sentences for people convicted of the offense. The sentence the defendant gets varies according to whether there are aggravating factors and whether the defendant took a plea deal or got a guilty verdict at a jury trial. For some offenses, defendants can often avoid a criminal record, or at least avoid incarceration for offenses where it is indicated, by participating in pretrial diversion programs if they do not have any prior criminal convictions. In some jurisdictions, the law limits the length of prison sentences for convicted defendants under the age of 21 for all except the most serious crimes.
In New Mexico and elsewhere, drunk driving is an offense where there is room for variation in how the courts respond to it. We can agree that causing an accident while driving drunk is a worse crime than driving drunk without causing an accident. No one wants drunk drivers to end up like Rose Ann Davidson, who is serving a life sentence in Texas after six DWIs, despite the fact that she never caused an accident while under the influence of alcohol. Meanwhile, it makes sense that local governments that fail to prevent people with a long history of drunk driving should be held legally responsible if the driver eventually causes an accident that results in serious injuries. If you suffered injuries in an accident caused by a driver with a long history of drunk driving, contact a Santa Fe motor vehicle accidents and car accidents lawyer.
McKinley County Woman Eludes Police After Seventh DWI Conviction
In December 2025, Bernice Lewis, 61, got stopped on suspicion of drunk driving in McKinley County. She handed the police a government-issued photo ID and admitted that her driver’s license was suspended. She was convicted of DWI but failed to report to jail to begin serving her sentence. It was her seventh DWI.
Hurley Man Has 13 DWIs but Has Never Spent a Consecutive Year in Jail
Jerry Amador of Hurley got his first DWI in 1986, when he was 26 years old. Now 65, Amador has been convicted of DWI 13 times. In the summer of 2025, police tried to pull him over for speeding, but he increased his speed. When he eventually stopped his car, he tried to flee from the police on foot. Police records showed that the current arrest was Amador’s thirteenth DWI. He has served jail time for DWI before, but his longest sentence was a few months, and some of his convictions only resulted in probation instead of jail.
Contact Slate Stern About Drunk Driving Car Accident Lawsuits
Slate Stern is a personal injury lawyer who represents plaintiffs injured in accidents involving drivers with a long history of drunk driving. Contact Slate Stern in Santa Fe, New Mexico, or call (505)814-1517 to discuss your case.
Sources
https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/southwestern-new-mexico-man-faces-10th-dwi-charge
Photo by Aedrian Salazar on Unsplash