PATRICK DONOVAN

AFTER HIS FIRST DWI DEAL, ANOTHER ARREST, ANOTHER DEAL

When Patrick Donovan went to court in Florissant for his first drunken driving arrest in November 2007, he got the city's standard penalty for a first-timer: probation in a special deal called "suspended imposition of sentence." That type of deal allows people who are arrested to admit guilt and get a probation that, if completed, wipes away any record of the case.

It meant no conviction.

Less than three weeks after accepting that deal, he rear-ended a car in a White Castle drive-through. The driver got out and saw Donovan asleep at the wheel, covered in vomit, according to the police report. He shook him to wake him up. Donovan rammed the car again before driving off, leading a police officer on a half-mile pursuit before pulling into a driveway and hitting another car.

He refused a breath test and was arrested for a second DWI, the report said.

Back in the same court, Florissant Judge Tim Kelly gave Donovan a second SIS. He was put on probation for two years and ordered to get treatment for substance abuse. His first agreement was not revoked and there was - again - no conviction.

Under state law, repeat offenders don't qualify for an SIS.

Kelly said he didn't think that law applied to his court. He won't talk about Donovan's cases but said, in general, that he might see two DWIs in a row as related.

"Often, it's one problem that caused the drinking, like a death in the family, and you hope it would never happen again. You try to cure the cause as much as anything, " said Kelly. "Sometimes you're successful and sometimes you're not."

Donovan, 24, did not respond to requests for comment. He now faces a felony charge for the third DWI arrest on Sept. 5. For violating probation, the municipal court could revoke his probation and convict him of the first two DWIs.

 

TRACY ACUFF

IN OUTSTATE MISSOURI, COURTS MORE LIKELY TO CONVICT

After a DWI conviction in 1990, Tracy Acuff went 16 years without another.

Then, in the words of his mother, the St. Peters man "just went on a tear."

It started with a DWI from a Frontenac police officer on Aug. 29, 2006. Two days later, a state trooper gave Acuff, then 46, a DWI in Lincoln County.

Finally, on Sept. 4 - Labor Day - he got two DWIs. They were in Vandalia and in Bowling Green, Mo.

He was convicted only of the two Labor Day charges.

One crazy weekend provides a window on how DWIs are handled in the St. Louis area versus the rest of the state.

Authorities in greater St. Louis are much more likely to give a break to a repeat offender, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis of Missouri driving and court records.

Acuff's prior offense, in 1990, made him ineligible for any special deal to keep a conviction off his record, said David Ash, the Bowling Green judge.

"We knew he had a prior, so an SIS (suspended imposition of sentence) is not an option, " Ash said. "That's my policy."

Frontenac police wouldn't release their report, and the court clerk confirmed the case was closed because of a "suspended imposition of sentence." Keith Cheung, the prosecutor, said he didn't know that Acuff had a prior offense.

Instead of a DWI, he got a speeding ticket.

Lincoln County court officials did not respond to a request for information about their case.

 

STEVEN CASTANEDO

8 DWI ARRESTS, STILL A FIRST-TIME OFFENDER

Steven Castanedo has been arrested for DWI eight times.

He has one DWI conviction.

A Manchester municipal judge convicted Castanedo, 52, of Ballwin, of careless driving for his first offense, when police reported he registered double the legal alcohol limit. His second arrest, in Illinois, netted a DWI conviction.

For his third arrest back in Missouri, he got another deal - a reduced charge of improper lane usage - in Valley Park Municipal Court.

He and his attorney declined to comment.

Castanedo has five arrests pending in three courts. In all cases, he's charged as a first-time offender.

Court records don't indicate what plea deals, if any, are being considered.