She reports the events to police and Denis is picked up and charged with a misdemeanor DUI.

Judge Ferrero of Murray Justice Court, extremely frustrated with the confusing records, sentences Denis to 30 days in jail some 10 months after the conviction.

Despite prior DUI convictions and arrests, Denis is not charged with a felony DUI as required by law.

Marsha Thomas, prosecutor in the Murray Justice Court, will only say Denis was tried in that court on a misdemeanor charge because there is no record of prior convictions that would raise it to the level of a felony.

Denis is now in jail on this charge, but not before he committed another DUI before he was sentenced.

And confusion reigned at the sentencing. "I understand there are six DUIs here," Ferrero says in opening the hearing.

In a somewhat unusual move for a judge, court records show Ferrero took the initiative to ask for a history of Denis' DUI arrests and convictions before sentencing.

Had Ferrero not asked for a pre-sentence report, no one would have noticed Denis' history of driving drunk.

MARCH 21, 2001 — At 3:15 p.m., Denis is stopped by a trooper who notices him driving erratically in the northbound lanes of I-15 near 10600 South. Denis refuses to take a blood alcohol test, and the officer arrests him for DUI after he fails sobriety tests, a police report says. Denis tells the officer he has been drinking vodka — about a half pint — and says he had a back injury 20 years prior that causes him a lot of pain, the report adds.

Originally charged with a felony, prosecutors plead down the case to a Class A misdemeanor.

"We could have gone to trial, but this wasn't a slam dunk case," says Verhoef. "Evidentiary problems" complicate the case, including the fact there was no blood alcohol test on Denis and that he says he has a back injury. Such an injury, says Verhoef, could be interpreted as a reason Denis flunked sobriety tests.

"This guy's smart enough to refuse the test and to have excuses for his behavior. We'd rather take the (Class A misdemeanor) and get the validation of the priors," Verhoef says.

Now he could do one year in jail, Verhoef says. This last case is on hold, pending Denis' release from jail on the previous incident in Murray.

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E-mail: lucy@desnews.com; tvanleer@desnews.com