Does bond for 11th DUI state you shouln't be boozin?

[Billings_Griz]

Why isn't the bond revoked. Jesus, some things make me wonder WTF some of these judges are thinking.





Man who showed up drunk for trial enters plea to 11th DUI



GREG TUTTLE Of The Gazette Staff | Posted: Thursday, April 1, 2010 12:51 pm | 1 Comment


A man who was drunk when he showed up at the courthouse the day his trial for felony drunken-driving was set to start has pleaded no contest to the charge.

Thaylin Shawn Pierce, 49, appeared before District Judge Gregory Todd on Thursday morning and entered the plea to a felony DUI, his 11th drunken-driving offense. The judge scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 22 and allowed Pierce to remain free until that date on a previously posted bond.

Pierce was charged in November 2008 after Billings police were called to a Grand Avenue parking lot to investigate a crash. In what a prosecutor described as a strange series of events, Pierce was accused of scaring a child in a parked car after he was kicked out of a casino for being drunk, loud and belligerent. The fearful child started the car and drove it into another parked car. The child’s mother had run into a nearby pharmacy for a quick errand, prosecutors said.

Witnesses told officers that after the crash, Pierce tried to drive away in a pickup truck. Two witnesses blocked the truck from leaving.

A trial in the case was set to begin before Todd on Wednesday. The judge cancelled the trial after Pierce was suspected of being drunk when he showed up at the courthouse at 9 a.m. A sheriff’s deputy was called and a breath test showed that Pierce had a blood-alcohol level of 0.093 percent, above the state legal limit for driving.

Negotiations between Pierce, his public defender and the prosecutor then began, and the sides reached a plea agreement while prospective jurors waited in the courtroom. The deal hinged on whether Pierce would return to court sober the following morning and enter the no-contest plea.

As scheduled, Pierce showed up at about 9 a.m. and when questioned by Todd said he had not been drinking alcohol since the previous day.

“Do I need to test you again?” the judge asked Pierce, who replied that he was not intoxicated and that he understood his rights.

By entering the no-contest plea, Pierce acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to win a conviction had the case gone to trial. The plea agreement calls for Pierce to receive the standard maximum sentence of 13 months to the state Department of Corrections for the felony DUI, with a recommendation for a state treatment program. Prosecutors will also recommend that he serve two years on probation and pay a $1,000 fine.

Two misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and driving without insurance will be dismissed as part of the agreement.

Pierce has nine prior drunken-driving convictions in Colorado and one in Wyoming. Deputy County Attorney David Carter said he could not seek to have Pierce designated a persistent felony offender because the prior convictions were either misdemeanors or occurred more than five years ago. To qualify as a persistent felony offender, which carries a sentence enhancement of up to 100 years in prison, the prior felonies must have occurred within five years of the new offense.

Pierce apparently rode a bicycle to the courthouse on both days.

[CPACAT]

What a piece of garbage.

[whitetrashgriz]

sounds like the guy has a ton of issues. hopefully he can get some help before he kills himself or someone else. sad...