The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Driving while intoxicated" ...
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"Dodging DWIs"
The criminal justice system in St. Louis "has failed to punish drunken drivers." After multiple people were killed in drunk driving related accidents, reporters revealed that in St. Louis County, felony charges were not often issued to repeat offenders. Few people accused of a DWI actually have it placed on their record. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has called for an examination of the broken system.
Tags: Jay Nixon; Robert McCulloch; St. Louis; St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney; drunk driving; DWI; DUI; driving while intoxicated
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Judges Under the Influence
The Charlotte Observer found that prominent defense lawyers in three coastal North Carolina counties helped judges get appointed and elected; and rarely lost when they took DWI cases to trial before them.
Tags: Driving while intoxicated; judicial appointment; defense attorneys; lawyers; Department of Human Services; John Nobles; Judicial Standards Commission; buying Judges
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Falling Down on Drunk Driving
This 10 part series revealed that while most states showed a significant improvement in drunk driving fatalities between 1982 and 2002, Missouri placed 30th. In Missouri, drunk drivers-even those who injure and kill- are usually punished with just probation and fines. Also, many offenders enter a plea in return of a 'Suspended Imposition of Sentence', which never becomes part of the public record.
Tags: alcohol; drunk driving; driving while intoxicated; DWI; Missouri; Suspended Imposition of Sentence; car accidents
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Still Drunk, Still Driving
Investigations by WITI - TV reveal that there are serious flaws in a system set up to deter repeat drunk drivers in Wisconsin. This investigation exposes how people who have multiple OWI's are able to drive drunk again. As WITI reports the courts and police have not been successful in keeping drunk drivers off the road.
Tags: Tape; Transcript; Driving under intoxication; police patrol; drunk driving; Operating while Intoxicated
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First in Flight, but last in mercy
The Baltimore Sun reports on the trial of Melissa Marvin, a 30-year who killed four while driving drunk in Kitty Hawk, N.C. Marvin was charged with murder, in addition to driving while intoxicated. Marvin was convicted of four counts of second-degree murder and one count of "assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury" and sentenced to 60 years in prison without parole. Sjoerdsma, a attorney/mediator and freelance journalist writes that "by grafting murder law onto DWI cases, North Carolina may be running roughshod over traditional notions of justice."
Tags: DWI; murder; North Carolina; alcohol; Melissa Marvin; justice; legal system; courts; crime
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On the road again
WTHR -TV reports on problems with getting and keeping drunken drivers off the road. The main finding is that many convicted drunken drivers keep on driving on suspended licenses. The investigation exposes defendants driving "away from court just minutes after being sternly admonished not to by the judge." A computerized DUI case database shows that the problem is pervasive, and there is a pattern of drunken driving recidivism. The investigation also sheds light on "a surprising and little-known change in the law that eliminated mandatory jail time for convicted drunken drivers caught driving while suspended."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; DUI; arrests; intoxication; alcohol; Bureau of Motor Vehicles; police; blood-alcohol standard; open records act; FOI requests; Marion County
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Drunk Driving: A Sobering Look
The series found a system fraught with loopholes that returns these people to the roads again and again, even those who have killed while driving drunk., while rarely treating the underlying alcoholism.
Tags: intoxicated; victims; DUI
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No title (id: 9055)
WTMJ-TV (Milwaukee) examines Wisconsin's laws regarding driving while intoxicated, and finds that the state's judges routinely hand out sentences much closer to the minimum than the maximum; highlights stories of families who have lost relatives because of drunk drivers, March 2 - 4 and 12, 1992.
Tags: TAPE