Drunk Driver Handed Stiff 11-Year Jail Term

A San Diego man with a string of 11 drunk-driving convictions has been sentenced by a Municipal Court judge to 11 years in jail, believed to be the longest jail term ever handed down in San Diego for a misdemeanor conviction.

James A. Hibbard, 32, was convicted Jan. 21 on three counts of driving under the influence, four counts of driving with a suspended license, four counts of giving false information to a police officer and two counts of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

The sentence Monday by Judge Raymond Edwards Jr. was the latest in a string of clashes with the law for Hibbard, whose drunk-driving convictions date back to 1972, according to Stuart Swett, chief deputy city attorney.

“We’re very happy with the judge’s decision,” Swett said. “Given the facts of this case, the sentencing was entirely appropriate.”

Hibbard’s attorney, Janet Clare Miller, said she will appeal Edwards’ decision, which she termed excessive.

“The judge is responding to public opinion and public pressure,” Miller said in a telephone interview. “(Hibbard) accepts the fact that he should be punished, but the severity of this sentence doesn’t serve any useful purpose.”

Miller had asked for a two-year sentence, with Hibbard serving the second year in a halfway house.

“We felt (Hibbard) has not been given sufficient rehabilitative services,” Miller said. “He has sort of fallen through the cracks.”

Swett, however, said Hibbard needs to be taken off the streets because he poses a threat to society.

“Thousands of people are killed every year by drunk drivers, and here is a driver potentially in that position if he doesn’t get the message,” Swett said.

If Edwards sentence stands up after appeal, Hibbard could serve as much as seven years in County Jail or in work camps run the Sheriff’s Department, Swett said.

Hibbard could get three or four years taken off his sentence depending on his conduct while in custody, Swett said.

Swett added that it has only been through good fortune that Hibbard has not killed or seriously injured anyone while driving.

He also said he is hopeful that Edwards’ sentence will have a positive effect in curtailing drunk-driving offenses.

“This should inform the public of the dangers of engaging in this sort of anti-social behavior,” Swett said.

Last year, Hibbard was convicted of stealing his mother’s automatic bank teller card and taking $1,400 from her account.