Denis is eventually convicted on a lesser charge of alcohol-related reckless driving, according to Provo 4th Circuit Court records, which don't specify what his sentence was. Standard sentencing guidelines for first-time offenders usually include a specified amount of community service, fines and enrollment in an alcohol abuse treatment program.

APRIL 11, 1993 — Denis is arrested on I-15 near 600 South in Salt Lake City. He is convicted of a misdemeanor DUI, ordered to pay a $925 fine and sentenced to 30 days in jail, with all but two of those days suspended.

JAN. 15, 1998 — A UHP trooper notices Denis' 1979 Oldsmobile weaving across lanes of traffic on I-15 near 12300 South before exiting onto State Street. Denis' speech is slurred and his balance poor when the trooper pulls him over just after midnight. He nearly falls getting out of the car and fails several phases of the field sobriety test. A test of Denis' blood alcohol level shows .163 — more than twice the legal limit.

Denis has a valid driver's license.

Denis pleads guilty to the DUI in Draper. Justice Court Judge Daniel F. Bertch sentences him to 180 days in jail — the maximum possible — but only requires him to serve 10 days. With time already served, he spends eight days in the county jail, according to a jail official.

In addition, Denis does not have an attorney, which may have presented problems for prosecutors trying to enhance the penalties for Denis' later DUI charges, says Marty Verhoef, assistant director of the criminal division for the Salt Lake County Attorney's Office.

"If a person is sent to jail without a lawyer, the courts have said they may not have been given their full constitutional rights. So it's hard to enhance the charges," Verhoef says.

This is a problem for those trying to monitor drunken driving offenders — the way they are charged and the way judges sentence, says Mary Phillips, an advocate for more stringent DUI laws and penalties.

When an offender has no lawyer, there are two ways to make that charge enhanceable: The judge can note in court records that the charge could be used in the future as an enhanceable charge, and there has to be verification in the court record that the person waived his right to an attorney. "If they waived the right to an attorney when in jail, prosecutors can't take the case as enhanceable."

This is important for Phillips' cause because "enhancing" a charge means bumping up the severity of the charge, and punishment, from a misdemeanor to a felony. "We have people who continue to reoffend and the penalties for misdemeanors aren't working," Phillips says. "If you can enhance and make it a felony they can do prison time."