Houston accident attorney remarks that Texas in recent years has enacted stiffer penalties against those who choose to drive drunk. The new laws are part of the response to Texas’ ongoing problem of repeat DWI offenders, a rash of deadly DWI crashes, and the state’s thousands of drivers who somehow feel that it’s perfectly fine to endanger lives, even their own, by drinking to excess then taking to the road. A vehicle driven by a drunk driver becomes a deadly weapon as likely to take the driver’s life as another.
But in an unfortunate number of cases, our Houston accident attorneys note that the drunk driver that takes innocent lives in a crash often remains unscathed by the wreck. Let’s look at the apt example of William Joe Rhomer, 40, who’s been charged will intoxication manslaughter for a Wednesday wreck that took the life of 40-year-old motorcyclist Gilbert Anthony Chavez on San Antonio’s North Side. His bail is set at $100,000.
An article in the San Antonio Express-News by Eva Ruth Moravec says that Rhomer admitted to drinking at the Coco Beach bar prior to the crash. The deadly wreck occurred only two blocks away from the bar when Rhomer veered from his lane into a lane of oncoming traffic and crashed head-on into the un-helmeted motorcyclist. Our Houston accident attorneys point out that Rhomer himself was uninjured by the crash that claimed Chavez’ life.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) is in the process of investigating whether Coco Beach employees served Rhomer drinks after he was intoxicated. Under Texas law, it is illegal for an alcohol-serving establishment to serve further alcohol to a patron who is already drunk. And a bar, club, restaurant (or its employees) that overserves alcohol to a patron becomes liable for some of the damages resulting from their illegal action.
Rhomer will likely face prosecution for murder under Texas laws. Texas’ strengthened DWI laws make third-time DWI charges felonies. And under Texas law, the District Attorney can prosecute a case as felony murder where a death occurs during the commission of a felony act. Rhomer’s recent arrest actually makes his 4th DWI charge. He reportedly had previous DWI arrests in 1993, 1999, 2001, and 2007.
According to an Assistant DA on the matter, prosecution of deadly drunken drivers under the felony murder rule could help deter drunken driving and save the lives of innocent people. Rhomer could face a life sentence in prison under the felony murder law.
Rhomer received a sentence of two years after his 2007 DWI arrest. The conviction might have stemmed largely from his belligerence in the police vehicle after his arrest. Texas’ stronger DWI penalties and “no refusal” policies were not yet in effect, and Rhomer refused to give a blood or breath sample at that time. He served one year of his two-year sentence before being released on parole in 2010.
Let’s hope that Texas’ stiffer DWI penalties and felony murder rule keep dangerous repeat DWI offenders like Rhomer off our streets permanently in the future. Read our Houston accident attorneys’ account in the linked article of a recent conviction of a DWI offender and the maximum penalties that the jury handed down.