Though the effects of alcohol vary from person to person, many people in Oklahoma and across the United States behave differently when they drink. This is true in the case of a 27-year-old woman from Tennessee who allegedly attacked her boyfriend and drove recklessly while under the influence of alcohol.
According to the woman’s boyfriend, he was lying in bed in early March when the woman began assaulting him. She allegedly told him that she had been drinking and hit the man in the back of the head repeatedly. He called a friend for help when she wouldn’t stop attacking him. He says that while walking to his friend’s vehicle, the woman followed the man and continued to hit him, ripping his shirt during the assault. Once he was in the vehicle, she is believed to have damaged the door, window and driver side mirror. Witnesses say she was holding the couple’s 4-year-old daughter during the attack.
The woman then got into her vehicle and reportedly placed the child in the front seat without restraining her. She then allegedly drove away at a high rate of speed and ran a red light. Police detained the woman after she was found swerving in between lanes on the I-40. She has been charged with child abuse, DUI, domestic assault, bodily harm, reckless driving, public intoxication and vandalism.
Driving under the influence of alcohol has serious consequences. In Oklahoma, a DUI is punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $1,000. Prosecutors often try to get the maximum sentence to deter the offender and others from drinking. They might try to deny some of the rights of an alleged offender to prove a point. It’s important that this doesn’t occur. In a DUI case, a lawyer may be able to show that the breath test wasn’t properly administered, for example, and have the charges reduced or dismissed.