FreeOwl

LAKE HALLIE (AP) -- A northwestern Wisconsin woman is being charged with her ninth drunken driving offense after authorities say she was found unresponsive with her foot on the brake of an SUV with two little girls in back.

A criminal complaint says 44-year-old Lisa Marie Badciong of Chippewa Falls was found in her SUV June 2 outside a fast-food restaurant in Lake Hallie. The complaint says a Chippewa Fire District member reached in to put the vehicle in park and shut off the engine.

According to the complaint, Badciong couldn't speak or stand, and a half-empty bottle of vodka was found on the passenger seat.

Court records say Badciong has posted an $800 cash bond, and made an initial court appearance Tuesday.

A message seeking comment was sent to an attorney listed as representing Badciong.


STAY SOBER OUT THERE PEOPLE

FreeOwl

I wonder... As I go to bed this night, sober and happy, my little girls safely asleep in their beds.... Will this story be that woman's bottom?

For her and her children I pray it is.

This story steels my reserve that sobriety is my preference, reminds me of gratitude that my own bottom is behind me and that I don't ever have to return to that dark place.

I hope it also serves as a clear picture for some of you who might still be thinking 'maybe I'm not THAT bad', or 'maybe I just needed a break'.

Chances are, this poor suffering woman thought that sort of thing at some point too.

ScottFromWI

I live about 100 miles from where this story happened, it was on our local news too. Sadly, multiple DUIs are very common around here and just about every weekend at least a couple of people die in vehicle accidents where "alcohol and speed" was a factor.

FreeOwl

It's baffling to me that with nine DUIs someone is even eligible for bail, much less at $800

Latte

Well if it isn't her rock bottom-maybe her story will help someone else-even if it's just one person. I pray that someone has stepped in to help those children.

Fly N Buy

Last weekend - horrific

MARSHALL CO., MS (WMC) - Melandus Penson, the driver charged in the Sunday morning crash that killed two Briarcrest students, has been charged with seven DUIs and has five DUI convictions since 2008.

"The first offense is generally a fine and no jail time," said Attorney Kizer Jones. "The second is a fine and some jail time, and after that, it's a felony."

That's not what happened with Penson. After seven DUI charges, he was still allegedly driving drunk.

Some dates in Penson's DUI cases overlapped. He was arrested for his fifth DUI in Lee County on July 5, 2014, just five days before he pleaded guilty to his fourth DUI, which was committed in Pontotoc County.

"It's not uncommon if you reside in one county and get arrested in another county, from county to county, city to city, there is no way of knowing," Jones added. "Until the conviction there is no way of charging with a second or third offense until there is a conviction on the initial charge."

Breakdown of Penson's DUI charges
FIRST DUI: Union County, MS. 5/3/2008. (per Union County Justice Court Clerk records)
•Pleaded not guilty 5/27/2008
•Changed to guilty plea to first offense DUI 6/24/2008
•Sentenced to 30 days in Jail, 28 suspended with time served, $563 fine
SECOND DUI: Union County, MS. 6/3/2012 (per Union County Justice Court Clerk records)
•Pleaded guilty to first offense DUI 7/24/2012
THIRD DUI: Sherman, MS. 12/2013 (per Sherman Police Chief Joel Spellins)
•Charged with second offense DUI. According to Spellins, “We had a paperwork mistake. We used a faxed copy of the arrest report instead of a certified copy. The lawyers got involved, and that led to a first offense DUI plea.”
•Pleaded guilty to first offense DUI 8/2014
•Still owes between $1,200 and $1,300 on fine
FOURTH DUI: Pontotoc County, MS 5/17/2014 (per Kathy Packett, Head Clerk, Pontotoc County Justice Court Clerk's Office)
•Pleaded guilty to first offense DUI 7/10/2014
FIFTH DUI: Lee County, MS 7/5/2014 (per Debbie Berryman, Head Clerk, Lee County Justice Court Clerk's Office)
•Pleaded guilty to first offense DUI 10/31/2014
•Fined $808.50, still owes $133.50
SIXTH DUI: Lee County, MS 3/22/15 (per Debbie Berryman, Head Clerk, Lee County Justice Court Clerk's Office)
•Charged With first offense DUI
•Trial date set for July 9, 2015
•Also charged with no proof of insurance and no driver's license.
SEVENTH DUI: Marshall County, MS 5/31/15
•Charged with 2 counts of DUI death, 2 counts of DUI injury
•Held on $3 million Bond
•Preliminary hearing set for June 8, 2015
For each of Penson's seven DUI charges, he was charged as if it were his first DUI.
According to Sherman Police Chief Joel Spellins, since the charges take so long to move through the courts, Penson has been able to pile them up without punishment.


"He's been charged by seven cops," said the Sherman police chief. "That means seven cops put him in jail for driving under the influence. The cops are doing their jobs. It has to be the court system, the punishment, something has to change."

Spellins says it makes him sick to hear about the many DUIs that Penson was charged with over the past seven years. He says the problem with the law is that since a person is seen as innocent until proven guilty, pending cases have no bearing on a person's new charges.

In fact, if someone is arrested in a different county than a previous arrest, police can't even see the charges.

"I'm not aware of anything unless an investigator went to each municipality and manually searched records of other municipalities or counties," Jones added.

But even if investigators could see previous charges in other counties, Spellins says that information would likely have no effect on the outcome of a later arrest.

"It would be good to be able to see it, but it would have no bearing on the charge," Spellins explained. "I could know you have three DUIs pending, but if you haven't been convicted I'm still going to have to write you a DUI first."

As the families and friends of Maddie Kruse and Rachel Lynch mourn their death, Jones says this case may just be enough to finally make harsher punishments a reality.

"Even though we have to wait and determine innocence, at least we should be able to determine if bad behavior is being established."

Copyright 2015 WMC Action News 5. All rights reserved.

Ruby2

I also find it frightening that she was able to post bond. That it wasn't set higher. That's on the judge. People do stupid things. I heard on the radio about a woman who was arrested for child endangerment for leaving her two young children unattended in the car. While she was in court for a hearing on those charges, for two hours, she had left the same two kids in the car outside the courthouse, unattended in 90 degree heat. Thankfully, they were ok.

Boxer

Very scary!

sillysuzanfree

How does one even get a 9th DUI??? She couldn't have had a valid drivers license for starters. With two little girls in the car and an open container, that charge is much more than just a DUI...

FreeOwl

I was thinking the same thing.

Tang

While self driving cars won't make people sober, at least they may reduce the loss of life. I always thought those breathalyzer car start devices were a good invention too.

ArtFriend

There was a case here in Ft Worth where a drunk woman hit a man and he was lodged in her windshield. She drove home and parked her car in the garage with him still stuck in the windshield. She left him there. She even checked on him for TWO DAYS!!! after she hit him. He cried for help and she did nothing. He bled to death. She got 50 years.

Venecia

I remember that case. Hopefully, 50 years means 50 years.

Ruby, your point about the low bond is interesting. This took place in my beloved home state, which has its good points and bad. The drinking culture is often the stuff of late-night TV jokes, but I have to wonder how much of it has permeated the thinking that this judge has become one of many parts of the problem. To be fair, it's not across the board. A member of my family is a judge in Wisconsin. A former prosecutor who has seen the human toll of DWI; I have a hunch he'd not have been so "generous." He's known for his dim view of such stuff.

As Scott noted previously, this isn't an unusual occurrence and it speaks badly to the culture. It's pretty sad, costs lives on a routine basis and I don't know what it will take to reverse the trend. The alcohol industry there is known as one of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" in the state legislature. They've pretty much gotten their way in lawmaking; the state has pretty much had to be dragged kicking and screaming toward anything that would pass as enlightenment re DWI laws. That might be a very good place to begin rebuild the culture but I don't think there's much will. Not exactly "Profiles in Courage" in the Capitol, but little if any could be mistaken for wisdom there these days.

jazzfish

Wisconsin. DUIs are still only a citation (ONLY state with that), we just raised our speed limits to 70, and we are the binge drinking capital of the US. The level of socially acceptable alcoholism here is appalling.

ArtFriend

She will get 50 years. This is Texas!

site1Q84

In California if you kill someone while driving under the influence you're now charged with second degree murder.

It used to only be certain cases, usually multiple DUIs, but they started doing it on first of fences a few years ago.

PurpleKnight

That's a horrific story, 2 little girls in the back??!!

Venecia

This thread jogged my memory about a series the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did about seven years ago called "Wasted" on Wisconsin's drinking culture. It was good reporting.

I linked to it in the forum on news, which I'm sharing here:

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ml#post5419980

Sasha4

I remember a lovely lady sharing in a meeting.

She said how she once came out of a blackout to find herself driving on a motorway with her 2 little kids in the car.

She had no memory of blacking out, getting in the car, where she had been, where she was going.

I felt so much for her that she could share that.
It frightened me so much that that could happen and one day it could have been/could be me.

soberlife123

In Canada, You get a life time ban after your fourth DUI....nine...jesus.