One thing about being in a heavy multi-defendant gang-related shooting murder case, is that we get big-time attorneys with great stories.

This morning, one of the defense attorneys told me about a recent case in which he had to defend a man who was drunk driving. And it’s not just that it’s a DUI, it’s that he was so drunk that he plowed right into another car. And it’s not just that he caused an accident, it’s that whom he hit, was a 19 year old Marine who’s a month away from deployment. And his 18-year old wife. Pregnant. And it’s not that he injured these young people full of promise for the future, it’s that he killed them. And it’s not a freak accident, it’s his third DUI.

This defendant is apparently just beside himself, and is accepting of whatever maximum punishment the law sees fit. He keeps replaying the accident over and over in his head, and how absolutely preventable it was. If he’d just stayed home. If he’d just not gotten that drunk. If he’d just had a friend drive him home. If he’d simply left later, when he’d sobered up. But everything’s different now, so many lives have vanished and changed because of one decision in which he really did know better. The first two DUIs were warnings to him; he was charged, convicted and punished, but he’d never injured anyone else. If you ignore the early warnings and chances fate gives you, sometimes the road you walk down has irreversable, irrepairable effects.

That’s my public service announcement today. Be careful out there, especially now that Mr. W’s two kids are baby drivers on the road. Nothing had better happen to them.