Prosecuting DUIs is complex process

For anyone who watches the evening news or reads the newspapers, the names and stories are well-known.

• Robert Van Dyke, 35, had been arrested and charged with drunken driving four times before the Jan. 28, 2000, accident in West Valley City that killed Michelle Bradley, 36, and severely injured Bradley's daughter, Amber, then 12. With a blood-alcohol content of 0.36, Van Dyke was driving at more thanfour times the legal limit.

• Steven Ray Hudgens, 49, had 10 previous DUI arrests when he hit and seriously injured three bicyclists in Fruit Heights last year. The most badly injured, Brian Carlson, spent three months in the hospital and had to have his left leg amputated.

• Paul Guy Bredehoft's 10th drunken-driving conviction came after the March 1, 1994, accident that killed Sean Adkins, 17. The teen was helping change a flat tire in a freeway emergency lane when Bredehoft's vehicle struck him and threw him 113 feet to his death. The 45-year-old's blood-alcohol content was 0.27 percent — nearly 3 1/2 times the legal limit.

So, what happens after these drivers are arrested? How are they treated in the criminal justice system, and what sanctions do they face?

According to statistics compiled by the Administrative Office of the Courts, 4,416 people were charged in state court with DUIs between July 1, 1999, and June 30, 2000. Of those people, more than 3,000 either pleaded guilty or were found guilty.

Salt Lake District Attorney David Yocom said his office is dedicated to prosecuting drunken drivers, but it takes communication and togetherness from all facets of the criminal-justice system.

"It's hard to keep track of all of them and make sure they're all following the same procedure," Yocom said.

Utah law allows prosecutors to charge drunken drivers with anything from a class B misdemeanor to a second-degree felony, depending on the severity of an accident, number of previous convictions and more. Drivers who are arrested on their third DUI in six years are automatically charged with a third-degree felony, regardless of whether anyone else was injured.

But finding out about those earlier convictions in order to enhance the charge is tough, Yocom said.