He’s a 13-Time Loser for Drunk Driving--Now Prison Looms

A Buena Park man who has been convicted of drunk driving more than a dozen times has been charged with the same offense again and could be sentenced to 3 years in prison under a new state law, even though he has never injured anyone in an accident.

Michael Sean O’Brien, 39, has been charged with felony drunk driving under a law that calls for more serious punishment for repeat drunk drivers. In the past, drunk driving has been treated as a felony only if someone was injured or killed in an accident.

Under the new law, a person with three drunk driving convictions within 7 years may be charged with a felony if he is arrested again on the same charge, said Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Margaret A. Powers.

Powers said O’Brien has been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol 13 times since 1974. Two other drunk driving charges against O’Brien were reduced to reckless driving, Powers said.

“If that law was meant for anybody, it was meant for him,” Powers said. She said it was “a miracle” that O’Brien had not injured or killed someone.

According to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento, O’Brien has not had a valid driver’s license since 1977. A DMV spokeswoman said O’Brien cannot even apply for a new license until April 17 because of past drunk driving convictions. If he does apply, he must meet with a referee who will decide whether to reinstate his license.

O’Brien was arrested Tuesday by Buena Park police after he allegedly drove through a red light. His blood alcohol test registered 0.24, well above the legal limit of 0.10, police said.

O’Brien was first charged with misdemeanor drunk driving, but Powers decided on Wednesday to file the case as a felony when she learned of his history of convictions. O’Brien also has a drunk driving case pending in West Orange County Municipal Court in Westminster as a result of a 1988 arrest.

A judge appointed the public defender’s office to represent O’Brien. Deputy Public Defender Donald Ronaldson said he could not comment on the case because his staff has not had time to review it.

Powers said O’Brien has served only two sentences in Orange County Jail after drunk driving convictions. He served a year beginning in April, 1985, after pleading guilty, and another 18 months beginning in January, 1986, in a second case.

“Obviously, taking his license away didn’t deter him,” she said. “The only thing we can do is keep him in jail.”

Janet Cater, president of the Orange County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, applauded the law permitting the stiffer charge against O’Brien, calling it “an important new tool for law enforcement.”

“Something has to be done to get these people who are lethal weapons driving up and down the street,” Cater said. “Hopefully, this will.”

Cater said 10 to 15 other states have laws similar to California’s new statute.

“Maybe we should consider confiscating their vehicles like we do with drug dealers,” Cater said. “Maybe that way they won’t be able to drive.”

O’Brien is being held in Orange County Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.