Sentence For 7-Time DUI Offender Sparks 'Outrage' From DA
AVON, Colo. (CBS4) - An Avon woman has been sentenced to 60 days in jail after prosecutors asked a Lake County District Court Judge to give her six years for her seventh alcohol-related driving offense.
District Attorney Bruce Brown says Ashby Capito's blood alcohol was more than twice the legal limit and she had the drug Adderall in her system when she lost control of her speeding Jeep in Leadville.
"The car went more than 400 feet and slammed into a residence that was occupied by a family," Brown said.
Capito at the time said she had just broken up with a boyfriend. The car damaged the house and property next door.
After pleading guilty to a felony, Capito was sentenced to 60 days in jail on work release. She has undergone alcohol treatment in the past and is to undergo more as part of the sentence.
Brown says had she been convicted of a misdemeanor she could have actually gotten more time.
"My outrage is that when judges are not using their discretion appropriately that we do have to intervene as a community by our Legislature and say, "We have to have a minimum threshold in order to protect us,'" Brown told CBS4.
He said the law needs to be changed.
Capito was reached through a neighbor and asked if she wanted to comment for CBS4's story, but she declined.
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.