Man faces 4 homicide counts in teens' deaths

The man suspected of killing four teens after swerving his Jeep over the median Sunday near Santa Fe had a smile for his mugshot.

[axe]

I hope someone in jail wipes the smirk off the low lifes face.

[lee]

This just goes to show how wimpy our DWI laws are.How many more people have to get slaughtered before we get some real laws in this forsaken state.

[who cares]

well when he gets jabbed in the pokey by big bubba he won't be smiling then

[chris]

its so sad that the people of NM just can't seem to get their act together...i wonder how many people had contact with this guy, scott owens before he killed these poor kids...and nobody didnt do anything about it...ie, call the cops, take his keys away...something, anything...

[Texas]

Your State will never learn, when I lived there it was Gordon House, now this POS....even your lawmakers, and Police protecting them love the juice.......RIP to those young souls....

[concern]

He will probably get off again. They always do, especially if he knows someone in politics, or the police department.

[dibb]

the story does not mention the teenage driver was driving on a provisional lic. the law states the teen can drive without an adult in the car but does allow "one" other teen passenger. also they are not allowed to driver after 12 midnight. She had four passengers and was driving after midnight. this girl and her family were breaking the law. If they had adheared to the law these four childern would be alive today. I'm not excusing the drunk driver the scum should be put down like a rabid dog. But all the facts should be known. you can bet his attorney will be bringing this up.

[NMMTNBIKER]

Why do we continue to let innocent people die? We took away the death penalty so he will live even though they will not. I guess Federal funding is moe important than our lives.

[Jazz]

If they changed the law to a year in prison for the first offense, it would sure make the idi.ots think twice about drinking and killing

[Will]

Mandatory one year prison for anyone convicted of DWI-1st offense- Wake up Governor.

[UAMoron]

lee wrote:

This just goes to show how wimpy our DWI laws are.How many more people have to get slaughtered before we get some real laws in this forsaken state.

The laws are there, they are in place. The people who need to enforce them are the judges. The law makers have made the laws tougher, the police arrest as many as they can. There are two people to hold acountable for DWI deaths.(1) THE PEOPLE WHO DRIVE DRUNK.(2) THE SORRY JUDGES WHO REFUSE TO PROSECUTE TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAWS. Next election DO NOT ELECT the SAME SORRY JUDGES who allow the bloodshed to continue. These children did not need to die. WAKE UP PEOPLE. WAKE UP JUDGES!!!

[American Patriot]

dibb has some valid points... but second guessing won't bring the kids back

[EQuaL420]

HaHa Look At This White Boy. . .

[Jazz]

+smiling in the booking photo, pretty much says it all

that should be an offense, all by itself

[Dogwatch]

And the beat goes on. Do you think any--any!--of our representatives in this state will do anything to tighten our drinking and driving laws? No way!

By the end of the week, attention will be turned to Michael Jackson's funeral, low-cost travel tips, and fireworks safety. This will be but a distant memory except for the friends and families.

This stuff happens all the time. This story is just dramatic and newsworthy because of the ages of the victims.

Wouldn't it be nice if those in charge took aggressive steps to make sure a person's first DWI is their last. Sadly, it will never happen. Never.

My best to all.

[Jazz]

What do you think the main reason this state is soft on DWI?
Restaurant Lobby
Liquor retailers Lobby

Also the legislators, many of them are known to knock back a few brews in the bars after work.
They would not want TOO STRICT of a law, you see they might accidentally drink a bit too much one day and get stopped on the way home from the bar, and actually have to be subject to the strict law they passed

we couldnt have that now could we?

[Texas]

Dogwatch wrote:

And the beat goes on. Do you think any--any!--of our representatives in this state will do anything to tighten our drinking and driving laws? No way!
By the end of the week, attention will be turned to Michael Jackson's funeral, low-cost travel tips, and fireworks safety. This will be but a distant memory except for the friends and families.
This stuff happens all the time. This story is just dramatic and newsworthy because of the ages of the victims.
Wouldn't it be nice if those in charge took aggressive steps to make sure a person's first DWI is their last. Sadly, it will never happen. Never.
My best to all.

Agree with you on this, what needs to happen is the families of the people killed need to find a great lawyer and file a civil lawsuit, wipe this guy clean, house, cars, all the money he could ever make....

[CornDaddy]

Texas wrote:

Your State will never learn, when I lived there it was Gordon House, now this POS....even your lawmakers, and Police protecting them love the juice.......RIP to those young souls....

There have been several more in between these two drunks that have devastated other families as well. Last summer, Dana Pabst killed 5 members of one family, then he too died from the DWI accident.

The news 2 nights ago highlighted two other drunks who had both amassed over 20 DWI's each. IIRC, one had 23 and the other 28. NM has a serious problem with DUI.

[CornDaddy]

Jazz wrote:

Also the legislators, many of them are known to knock back a few brews in the bars after work.

Many of them own liquor licenses and are reluctant to do much because it may hurt their bottom line income.

[Nancy Hicks]

How many more people have to die before the justice system in New Mexico quits letting these people out for any reason? You can send them to classes, put locks on their ignitions and take their licenses away and it doesn't matter. They will find a way around the locks and they don't care if they drive without a license. The classes seem to be a joke. One solution would be to put them in jail for 1 year for the first offense, 2 years for the second, 3 for the third, and 10 for the 4th, etc. Maybe then, they would learn.