Friday, March 16, 2007

Latest DWI Arrest Is Driver's 28th

By Jeff Proctor
Journal Staff Writer
    One of the state's top law enforcement officials and an anti-drunken driving advocate say they've never heard a DWI tale quite so alarming as that of Joseph Brill.
    Brill, 53, was arrested Wednesday evening in northeast Albuquerque on suspicion of his 28th DWI. He fell over when he got out of his vehicle and failed a field sobriety test, according to a criminal complaint in Metropolitan Court.
    The complaint said files indicate he has had 27 prior DWI offenses with at least 14 prior convictions. MVD records show that he has had his license revoked five times and that it was revoked at the time of his most recent arrest.
    Brill has spent nearly four years in New Mexico jails and prisons on DWI charges and was still on parole for two of them at the time of his arrest Wednesday in northeast Albuquerque, according to court records and officials.
    "This man is the epitome of a public nuisance," Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said in an interview.
    Linda Atkinson, executive director of the Albuquerque-based DWI Resource Center, said she has never seen someone with 28 drunken driving arrests.
    "Twenty-eight does appear to be the highest," she said. "It's pretty disgusting to see someone who can continue to defy the odds with a history like that."
    A sheriff's deputy saw Brill park his car in a driveway in the 6400 block of Tokay NE around 8 p.m., the complaint states.
    Deputies noticed signs of impairment and a can of Bud Light beer that was "cold to the touch" in the vehicle, according to the complaint.
    Deputies administered field sobriety tests, which Brill failed, the complaint states. He then refused to take a breath- or blood-alcohol test.
    "His refusing to give us a test is a telltale sign that he's an old pro. He's very familiar with the system a career drunk driver," White said.
    The refusal earned Brill an aggravated enhancement to his felony DWI charge, which carries a stiffer penalty.
    Under New Mexico law, the maximum sentence for a seventh or subsequent DWI is three years in prison, a $5,000 fine, alcohol evaluation and treatment plus lifetime driver's license revocation. Drivers whose licenses have been revoked can, however, apply for a license that allows them to drive if their vehicle is equipped with an alcohol-sensing ignition interlock device.
    "Part of the problem with the statute is it just doesn't have enough teeth in it for people like Brill," Sheriff White said. "We need to keep him off the streets for a long, long time, and, unfortunately, the law just doesn't allow for that unless he goes out and kills someone."
    It's unclear exactly how much time Brill has spent behind bars in the state because most case-tracking information only goes back to 1984. But he has served nearly four years since 1985.
    He was released from the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas last June after serving 14 months on two DWI convictions, according to corrections spokeswoman Tia Bland. He had already served 244 days in a county lockup on those charges, she said.
    Bland said he served a year from December 1994 to December 1995 on a DWI charge.
    A Metropolitan Court spokeswoman said Brill also served 364 days on a 1985 DWI his sixth.
    Brill's license has been revoked since January 2004, Motor Vehicle Division records show.
    Metro Court Judge Julie Altweis on Thursday set Brill's bond at $100,000 cash only, and Brill was still jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center as of Thursday.
    His case will be sent to state District Court because it is a felony.
    "We will contact the district attorney and make sure he gets the maximum penalty," White said. "There will be no plea bargains in this case that's the only way to stop him."