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Teen begins prison term for DUI conviction
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Posted on Nov 29 2004
Raymond Blas, the teenager who was sentenced to jail for driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving in connection with a fatal vehicular mishap last year, showed up at the Department of Corrections yesterday to begin serving his sentence.
Grant Sanders, the government’s prosecuting attorney, said Blas went to jail as directed by the court, after the defendant failed to obtain a timely legal remedy from the Supreme Court.
Blas’ lawyer, Brien Sers Nicholas, had asked the High Court to temporarily freeze the sentence pending the determination of the defendant’s appeal of his conviction and sentence.
As of 3:30pm yesterday afternoon, the Supreme Court has yet to rule on Blas’ request for stay.
Trial court judge Juan T. Lizama imposed a partially suspended five-year-prison term on Blas for his conviction on DUI and reckless driving, giving him 18 months in jail time before he could be released on supervised probation to complete the entire five-year term.
In sentencing Blas earlier this month, Lizama directed the defendant to report to the DOC yesterday to begin serving the sentence. The judge also sanctioned Blas with fines of $1,000 and $100 for DUI and reckless driving.
Blas was the driver of a pickup truck that slammed into a light post in the wee hours of Dec. 26, 2003. A 13-year-old boy, who was among the defendant’s passengers, was thrown out of the vehicle due to the impact. The victim later died.
Although Lizama convicted Blas of DUI and reckless driving, a six-man jury acquitted the teenager on a charge of vehicular homicide.
On appeal, Sers Nicholas is questioning the trial court’s conviction of Blas and the sentence imposed on him.
The lawyer contended that, since the jury found Blas not guilty of vehicular homicide, the same jury unanimously found the defendant to be in no violation of any traffic law. He said DUI and reckless driving were two traffic offenses that the jury was instructed to consider before handing down its verdict.
Blas underwent a jury trial for the vehicular homicide charge. The verdict on DUI and reckless driving charges, however, fell under the jurisdiction of the bench.
