Our Montgomery County injury lawyers recently mentioned that popular images portray Justice as blind. More realistic images might currently portray her with her hands tied and a really pissed-off expression on her face.
British images from back in the day when we weren’t all soft on criminals portrayed Justice as fully sighted, wielding a deadly sword, and looking decidedly no nonsense about enforcing the law. That was back in the day when all that one could drive drunkenly was a team of horses who were themselves presumably sober.
Stewart Richardson, a repeat DWI offender, crashed into a car in 2009 while driving drunk. The DWI accident left Abdallah Khader, son of Loubna Elharazin, severely injured. Much of his brain was lost to the DWI crash. Loubna Elharazin, whose son was the center of her life and a sparkling jewel in the family crown, now cares for a son who can eat and cry.
But Ms. Elharazin will never truly know why her son cries. Abdallah Khader can no longer tell her. Our Montgomery County injury lawyers have seen enough injured accident victims to believe that Abdallah Khader might be in some way conscious of the sadness of his plight and of his debilitated circumstances, even if he will never be able to communicate that awareness to others except through his tears.
Stewart Richardson had previously injured 5 people in Iowa in a DWI crash. But did remorse for that crash keep him from driving drunk again? No. Stewart Richardson, repeat DWI offender, took to the road intoxicated and destroyed the life of Abdallah Khader and the hopes of his mother, Loubna Elharazin.
Ms. Elharazin had her woes compounded this week when she learned that Stewart Richardson might receive as few as two years behind bars for destroying the lives of her family. The maximum he could receive is 20 years under Texas law.
The prosecutor of the case asked for a life term for Stewart Richardson. But the trial judge said that he could not consider the Iowa DWI wreck in calculating the penalty because in Iowa Stewart Richardson’s DWI offense that injured 5 people was merely a misdemeanor. It strikes our Montgomery County injury lawyers as highly unjust that one can injure 5 people in a DWI wreck and simply be charged with a misdemeanor. Then that driver can go on to drive drunk again, destroy a family’s lives and hopes in the process, and still receive a light sentence.
But the trial judge in Stewart Richardson’s case could let him off lightly because of a technicality. Defense lawyers love technicalities. And, let’s face it; the lure of a sloppy loophole or a fine technicality to the inquiring legal mind is well nigh irresistible.
But loopholes and technicalities should not be allowed to circumvent or tie the hands of Justice. Loubna Elharazin and the prosecutor in Stewart Richardson’s case both believe that the repeat DWI offender should receive a life sentence for his callous DWI crimes. So do we. The roads would be safer for us all if Stewart Richardson remained behind bars and well away from them