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Should showing up for sentencing drunk justify a much tougher sentence?

By Douglas A. Berman

This local story out of Nebraska, which is headlined "Police: Man Drunk At DUI Sentencing: Jason Botos Needed Help Getting Out Of Car," is mostly sad and comical.  Then again, it also raises the legal issue in the title of this post.  Here are the basics: Authorities said a drunken driver showed up for his sentencing hearing drunk again.  Jason Botos, 30, was driven to court by his father and investigators said he was so drunk that he had to be helped inside and wasn't able to make his court appearance. "He was unable to get himself out of the vehicle, he was so intoxicated," said deputy Sarpy County attorney Ben Perlman.  Investigators said Botos' father asked deputies to help carry his son inside the courthouse. Botos was scheduled to be sentenced for a drunken driving offense in September 2009...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 14, 2010 (boomark / email).