" i saw in the paper that ever Deer Lodge is requiring Ignition Interlock Devices on thier mulitple DUI convictions. Sure wish the Deer Lodge judges could share their sucess stories with those in Butte. "

" sad thing is the guy who has 7 DUI's is going out again this weekend on his 4 wheeler and drinking! Crazy how does one stop this behavior. he should be in jail! get a DD for god sakes!
does anyone remeber Mariah?? "

" Lets all simmer down - it is apparent that all of our frustrations are the result of a judge that fails to do his job in accordance to Montana State Law.

Below is an address for the Liasion for City Courts. He is a Mt. Supreme Ct Justice. Perhaps he can tell us why our Judge fails to sentence multi offense DUI's to the sentences as mandated in Montana.

SUPREME COURT LIAISON
Justice James C. Nelson
Justice Building - Room 425
215 North Sanders
Helena, MT 59620
Telephone 444-5570
Fax 444-3274 "

" TJ-The only stupid one here is you...do not call me stupid you have no idea who I am. I was sharing my experience with you to open some eyes not to be called names. My husband and myself are highly educated people who believed in the system but because of what happened to us our eyes were opened to what actually goes on in the system. HOW DARE YOU! "

" Holly, ur stupid. The courts know ur whole criminal history before you show up. Maybe not the Judge but the Clerk of Court runs your name and Social Security Number and finds out your whole past. His convictions when he was under 18 would be sealed, unless he was charged as an adult.

I always say the first DUI was just a mistake (bad judgement), but the second and third and..... Is plain stupidity and needs a long jail sentence. "

" First of all let's adress sick- I am tired of the accuse that "I am sick,not my fault" They made a decission to drive while drunk. They should now pay the price for that decission. If you want to drink then make a plan before, Learn from past mistakes. So if you continue then the price gets higher. Still your decission so the courts NED to make a better ine for you-JAIL. SICK my tush "

" Holy - all i know is that this reporter was able to accurately report this story less than 2 days after they happened. If he is able to get this information,I am positive that the Judges can get the information as well. The problem is, the Judges just thumb their nose at Montana Law. If you read the story on Sunday on Drunk Driving, you would have read that Judge Kambich does not adhear to even the minimum sentencing requirements as set by Montana Law. If Kambich does not care, we can expect more 7th time DUI's in the future and probably more deaths as a result! "

" These aren't people who just made a bad decision and got caught for their first DUI.....these are criminals who have ABSOLUTELY no respect for their own lives or the lives of others. They are sick and need help....that help starts first and foremost by putting them behind bars for quite some time. This even more importantly helps the citizens to be able to live with one less person on the streets that has no respect for their lives..... "

" Lets put it this way if the detective would have given ALL the information from his so called investigation to the CA's dept. this person would have been slapped with a felony but instead the detective choose not to so he was charged with a misdeameanor why I don't know. I understand that the law is complex but sometimes not all the information is being passed on to the judges like prior history of the criminals so they may not know that this person has had six previous DUI's! "

" Holy: Are you serious? The "part of information" missing last time was that it was the guy's 6th DUI? And the "part of the information" missing the time before that was that it was the guy's 5th DUI? That must have been the case in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd, too. It's too bad there are people out there making excuses for these judges. By doing so you are subsequently making excuses for these individuals and their careless behavior. "

" Holy - It's kind of tough to decipher the suituation from your rambling post. I understand the concern not to identify your family, but what was the suituation you're trying to explain. What information did you want from the County Attorny's office? They can't give much information on an ongoing investigation or prosecution. Was your family looking to decide whether to press charges against someone or to plead guilty or not? It sounds like instead of looking for answers from the CA or the police or the Judge that you should have been hiring your own attorney or a public defender.
The legal game is a complex web of information disclosure and withholding. The police only give the CA's office what they need to prosecute and the CA only gices the Judge what he needs to impose a sentance. A defendant NEEDS representation if they hope to interrupt that flow and introduce their own stream or voice into the process.
It sucks. But it is the way it works now. Unless you are somebody or have somebody, the Judge generally doesn't want to hear from you during an appearance. "

" Holy: You are wrong. The prosecutors office would most definitely have known about ANY previous conviction(s) an individual has on his arrest record. The police investigate the incident for which an individual is arrested, not previous criminal acts---which may or may not apply to the sentencing (or courtroom testimony) of an individual after having been convicted of a crime.

If a prosecutor feels that he needs more information about the investigation of a crime in order to successfully prosecute an individual for a crime, he will most certainly "kick it back" to the handling detective for addtional followup prior to proceeding (filing) a criminal complaint.

I have no idea what "event" you are talking about, but you clearly do not have an understanding of the process undertaken by the police/law enforcement during the investigation of a crime. "

" I would like all of you to know one thing that I found out in an unfortunate event that happened to me and my family back in February, after this event my husband and I went to the courthouse for some answers. We stopped at the county attorneys office and she only received half of the information needed to make her decision from the police detective who investigated the case, she then sent her recommendation up to Mr. Kambich who we also met with he had NOTHING to go on other than the fact that the CAs office recommended this sentence, no prior history NOTHING. Now you say that is just a snow job by Mr. Kambich but as someone who sat in that court house on a Friday afternoon and seen exactly what went on and was shown the file in which he received Im telling you not all information is passed on to these judges.

Yes, I agree is looks as simple as black and white but from experience it is not so. The judges and the county attorneys office only get part of the information from the Police Department and while I used to be a big defender of the that department from my experience they are the ones that drop the ball. You say well there are computers now and the information is at their finger tips but NO they all work on different systems and do not have access to the other systems. I hope that this offers some insight as to why things like this happen. Not all departments play well together! "

" 7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And to think those are just the times they were CAUGHT!!!!!!
A little secret we have here in the city "get a freaking CAB!!!!" "

" Macker, I think he was using badge like the gold sticker you got kidergarden, like a pat-on-the-back reward not necessarily a law enforcement type of badge. Although given previous comments on other storys it's easy to assume he meant the cop shield.
Seven DUIs from a 23-year old is pretty extreme but in this case it's likely that at least a few are from a juvenile record that would normally be sealed - except for the 'lifetime' count.
So if a juvenile record is confidential, but the Standard now knows that he had DUI convistions on his juvinile record. Are they really confidential?
Or are these 7 really in the last 5 years?
I ask the question for discussion, not to diminish the offensive total. Seven DUIs is still an Ohmygodthisguyneedshelp extreme number but somehow I get a feeling that in a way the system let Mr. Strong down somehow. "

" kozanne - the State is not waiting on anything. The State passed laws that MANDATE that the car either be seized or fitted with an ignition interlock device after the 2nd offense. The State knows that these 2 options WILL help lower the DUI rates. The problem is that Butte's City Judge, Judge Kambich refuses to abide by State Law as he believes that he is somehow smarter than our lawmakers. "

" Arizona has some of the strongest DUI laws in the country. Called "Extreme DUI". If you are caught for Extreme DUI, you automatically do jail time, as well as a year on probation which involves a monitoring device installed ON YOUR CAR. This device is actually a pretty amazing computer which forces the driver to do breathalyzer tests every 15 minutes while the engine is running. If you do not do the test when the alarm sounds, eventually, the device shuts the car completely down. This means down anywhere, even on the highway.

I know someone who got busted under this law. It cost them nearly $20K in legal fees and fines, plus the charge for being in jail [dollars per day]. A first time offender! Makes you think twice once you've seen the consequences of Extreme DUI almost first hand.

But 7 DUI's? Ridiculous. What is the state waiting for, one of these criminals to kill somebody? Will Butte or some other fine MT city have another series of heartbreaking funerals?

Something has to change at the state level. Pronto. "

" ROADWARRIOR, your quote was:

"give them a BADGE like some sort of a hero, and send them back on the streets"

Please tell me what you meant by this. Seems like a slap at the police to me as they are the ones who would wear a badge in this matter. You insinuate we give a felony offender a BADGE. Now I am sure you meant it as allow the offender to hold their head high as they often do not get punished as they should. But you have to admit, comming from you, it does seem as a slap at the police since you are no big fan.

Anywho, good to see you again. "

" These guys need some heavy prison time. Most states would allow this. These guys should have done time long before getting a seventh offence. And look at their ages, seven dui's at that age. I know age isnt the factor but man. "

" Macker you are truely a complete imbacile!!! I did not BLAME the police. Yes they did THEIR JOB, but the SYSTEM let these guys WALK too many time. Dammit man git over yourself!!! "

" This is not a Law Enforcement issue as they have done their job 7 times. This problem is the result of poor Judges who continue to allow this abuse. Our City Judge will not follow Montana Laws with regard to his sentencing and this is the result! "

" How is it possible for someone to get 7 DUIs? Has truly become so acceptable to drive drunk that the law only applies when someone dies as a result? I hope that these two men stay in jail for a very long time and are not given the chance to go for 8!!! "

" Since when did the "DUI prison" move to Galen???? There is a "Teen prison" in Galen. The "Dui Prison" is at Warmsprings. "

" Just because you take away their license and their vehicles does not ensure that these individuals will stay off the roads. If they want to drink and drive they will, folks like this do not care if they have a license or a vehicle. These individuals need treatment for substance abuse along with a punshiment that will monitor them for a long time. This should have been done long before 7 offenses. "

" Now the great ROADWARRIOR blames 7th offense DUI on the Police. Where do you get off. Why dont you blame the court or the state for lack of action. One of the guys priors are from Colorado so I guess it is that Police Departments fault. Guess you would have them just "put down". They were caught and charged with a crime. The police did their job. Now watch to see if the court does theirs. "

" i agree with everyone else when are they going to do something? when another innocent dies.
wake up law enforcement!!!!! "

" Kambich the enabler will always be on the side of the drunk driver as long as he continues to ignore State Laws. There is no way that these two persons should heve been on ANY kind of vehicle if Butte's Judges did their job!

It is an election year people - the City Judge office is too important to the safety of our community. Vote smart! "

" These cases are up to the County Attorney now. If they are charged only as DUI felonies, Montana statute limits the penalty to 13 months in custody (at the DUI prison in Galen) and then 1-5 years probation to follow. But if the prosecutor charges the cases as repeat felony offenses, then the Court can use the persistent offender law which allows a custody sentence of 5-100 years. Due process requires that the Court can only sentence for the offense charged. So the ball is in the County Attorney's hands as far as what crime to charge. "

" TAKE THEIR FREAKIN' CARS AND LISCENSE AWAY!!!!! Come on, 7 DUI's? That is OBSCENE!!! "

" Is it time for real JUSTICE?,or maybe some more mollycoddling wristslapping, collect their money, give them a BADGE like some sort of a hero, and send them back on the streets? HMMMM??? "