Specialty Court- Texas: Judge in Fort Worth pushes DWI probation program Program treats high-risk offenders with three or more DWIs

By Melody McDonald Fort Worth Star-Telegram FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- After Kenneth Alley's divorce, things went downhill. Daniel Sanchez couldn't stop reliving his past and the death of his infant daughter. David Griffin's life had become unmanageable. All three tried to drink their problems away and wound up behind bars, again and again and again, for drunken driving. Four years ago, they found themselves at a crossroads: Go to prison or accept an intensive four-year probation with one of Tarrant County's toughest judges. They chose the latter and, last week, they walked out of Sharen Wilson's courtroom free and sober. They are among the first graduates of the Felony Alcohol Intervention Project, or FAIP, an innovative program designed to treat high-risk offenders who have had three or more DWIs. "Everybody knows I lock people up," Wilson said. "I believe in consequences for conduct. But there is no joy in locking up a drunk. I got tired of it. They spend whatever time they are in there thinking about their next cold beer or shot of whiskey. They haven't dealt with the issue." Nationwide, more than 2 million drivers, including an estimated 78,000 in Texas, have had three or more DWI convictions, according to the National Center for DWI Courts and the Texas Department of Public Safety. An estimated 400,000 people have had five or more. DWI courts are part of a growing trend in the criminal justice system in which specialized courts are established to deal with specific problems related to such things as drugs, alcohol abuse and domestic violence. Texas has 25 DWI courts, some of which deal with misdemeanor offenders. Others, like FAIP, handle only hard-core felony offenders. "These problem-solving courts are not going away. They are here to stay," said retired Harris County Judge Mark D. Atkinson, who is the judicial resource liaison for the Texas Center for the Judiciary, which helps create and supervise DWI courts. "It's a therapeutic approach to justice, realizing the nature of addiction." Tarrant County began its program at the end of 2006 and has accepted 175 probationers -- two of whom graduated in January, followed by four in February and four this month. "I've got people in this program with eight or nine prior DWIs and they're sober," Wilson said. "They're sober, they're working, and they have changed their lives." On the second Monday of each month, Wilson brings all the participants into court so they can learn from one another, support one another, hear about who's doing wrong and celebrate who's doing right. On this day, four graduates received a plaque, an Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book signed by the program's staff and a copy of their mug shot to remember who they were before they sobered up. Alley, 53, of Fort Worth, said that he hit the bottle hard after his divorce and that, within five years, he had been busted three times for driving while intoxicated. "On my third one, I'll be honest with you, I was scared, absolutely, the hell to death," Alley said. "It would have been seven years in (prison) but I got lucky." All the FAIP participants accept a plea bargain for a seven-year prison sentence that is probated to four years. If their probation is revoked, they go to prison for seven years. "I tell almost every one of them when they take the plea, 'I figure that I can make your life such hell that you won't drink for a little period of time, but our goal is to make you change your life so that you don't drink ever,'" Wilson said. The participants are supervised by five probation officers, Claire Penna, Ermelindo Rolon, Michael Flaherty, Scott Schroeder and Mayra Pineda, and must complete five phases of the program. Among other requirements, they must: Serve 10 days in jail. Work 40 hours a week. Have their driver's license suspended for six months to a year. Submit to random urinalysis. Attend counseling and alcohol treatment, including daily meetings the first 90 days. Wear an ankle monitor that detects alcohol for the first 90 days. Attend court weekly for judicial review. Meet with their probation officer once a week. Perform community service at homeless shelters. "It's a very intensive probation for serious alcoholics," Wilson said. "We're on these people like ducks on a June bug." Those who do well in the program advance and are rewarded with lifted curfews, occupational driver's licenses and fewer court sessions. Those who violate their probation can receive jail time, be sent to a lower phase or ordered to start over, or wind up in prison. (Out of 175 participants, Wilson has revoked 20.) The program is supported by the Tarrant County district attorney's office, which has assigned prosecutor D.J. Estes to be its liaison. "The district attorney's office has a goal of reducing injuries and deaths resulting from alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes," Estes said. "FAIP furthers this goal by addressing the underlying issue of alcoholism." Randy Bowers, the defense attorney assigned to FAIP -- who has been sober for 21 years -- said defense attorneys were initially reluctant to recommend the program to their clients, believing that Wilson would be quick to revoke probation and send them to prison. But that hasn't been the case. "Sometimes they relapse, but she doesn't send them to prison," Bowers said. "They get a sanction, but they get another chance." Griffin, 47, one of the graduates, said he relapsed 15 months into the program and was sentenced to 30 days in the county jail, a stint that caused him to lose the job he had held for 23 years. He was bitter at first but has been sober since and has gotten a better job. "I never could have stayed sober without the FAIP program and Judge Wilson and the probation department," Griffin said. "I don't need any more chances at this point in time." Sanchez, 46, another March graduate, said he drowned his sorrow in alcohol after his infant daughter died of medical problems when he was 18. "When I drank, I didn't know how to stop. That was my problem," he said. Eventually, he ended up with three DWIs and divorced, with children in foster care. The required counseling helped him work through his daughter's death, he said, and now his other children are part of his life again. "I got the help that I really did need," Sanchez said. Published: Thu, Mar 24, 2011