DUI conviction nets 5 years, no parole

March 22, 2001
Section: Local
Page: 2B

Sylvain Metz

By Sylvain Metz/Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer

A Pelahatchie man has been sentenced to five years in prison without the possibility of parole on a felony DUI conviction under the state's habitual offender law.

A Rankin County jury deliberated 30 minutes before finding Rufus Watson Jr., 56, guilty of felony DUI.

Since he had two prior felony convictions for DUI, Rankin County Circuit Court Judge John Kitchens sentenced him to the maximum penalty set by state law for a nonviolent offender, which requires him to serve the entire sentence.

Watson's attorney, Kevin Camp, said an appeal could be filed as early as today.

It was Watson's third felony DUI conviction in five years. He had two felony convictions for driving under the influence in March 1996, said Assistant District Attorney Bubba Bramlett, who tried the case.

The other three convictions were misdemeanors, he said.

The two other felony convictions resulted when Watson was stopped on Feb. 11, 1995, and again on Feb. 15, 1995. The cases were tried together so when he was convicted, his sentence ran concurrently and he served 2- years, or 25 percent of his sentence.
Since the last conviction was within five years, the district attorney's office amended its indictment to try him as a habitual offender, Bramlett said.

"That's why we amended the indictment to try him as a habitual offender so if the jury convicted him, he would have to serve the maximum penalty, day for day," he said.

"Mr. Watson is a habitual offender and sentenced accordingly."

In this case, Watson was arrested the morning of Jan. 30, 2000, after his vehicle was observed by Rankin County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Mallery traveling northbound in the southbound lane of Mississippi 43 near Pelahatchie. He refused to take a breath test.

"Refusing to a breath test merely lengthens the drivers' license suspension period," Bramlett said. "It will not make the DUI go away."
Many would rather take a chance with the jury, Bramlett said.

Bramlett said it was revealed during the trial that Watson, while going through the booking process, said, "I blew on the machine for my three other DUIs. You are gong to have to prove this one."

Camp denied his client ever made that statement. In fact, he said, his client, who is a smoker, tried to take the test but could not complete it.

The breath test calls for blowing enough air into the device to cause it to produce a tone, Camp said. To complete the test, the person blowing into the device must blow hard enough for eight seconds for the machine to register.

If someone cannot complete the test, that counts as a DUI refusal, he said.

Camp admitted that it's tough to win a DUI case in Rankin County compared with other counties.

A felony DUI conviction carries a fine and a jail sentence of one to five years in prison. The felon must serve one year or 25 percent of the sentence.

However, the policy of Rankin and Madison counties has been to offer a defendant a two-year sentence for one felony DUI conviction, said District Attorney Rick Mitchell who serves both counties.

Many take the deal instead of going to trial, Mitchell said.