Woman kills 2 in DUI wreck; Prosecutors go after bar customer who bought her drinks

[apples and oranges]

A woman who pleaded guilty to driving drunk and causing a deadly crash in Montgomery County is headed to prison. And now, prosecutors are leveling charges against a bar customer they say bought her the drinks. But it could be a tough case for them to get a conviction.

In that warrant, it's clear that the surveillance video of Baukus consuming more than 20 drinks in a four-hour period before the deadly wrong way crash was critical. But Duran was not a bartender. He was another customer.

The investigator writes, "While reviewing the video I noted a white male deliver three alcoholic beverage drinks to Baukus at 1:38am, 1:43am, and 1:46am. These are the last three drinks Baukus consumes."

And he contends, "While Duran is providing these three drinks, it is clearly evident on the video that Baukus is intoxicated as she is swaying, side-stepping for balance and walking into tables."

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=9196050

[geek tragedy]

1. Closer call then the headline suggests.

Giving an obviously impaired person three drinks within an 8 minute span . . .

[Drunken Irishman]

7. Yeah...but you can't blame those drinks for her being drunk.

She was drunk already. 20 in a four-hour period? Even if it's only 17, no one is going to be sober after that. It seems pointless to blame this guy, as even if she didn't pound down three more drinks, she still would have been in no condition to drive.

And how'd he know she was going to drive?

[geek tragedy]

9. Probably an acquittal, but still . .. nt

[Drunken Irishman]

14. Where do we draw the line, though?

It seems like a slippery slope here. Blame the guy for buying a woman three drinks. Okay - what about the other seventeen she drank? What if I go into a bar, buy a woman a last round (which is common when last call arrives) and she gets into an accident - do I get to go to prison too?

What about the fact no one stopped her from driving? If it's the duty of other bar patrons to know when not to buy someone a drink, isn't it also their duty to step in and not allow anyone who might be impaired to drive home? If they don't, can they all be charged?

[geek tragedy]

15. He was acting with reckless disregard to her health, at the very least.

Had she died from alcohol poisoning, that would be a pretty easy conviction on negligent homicide.

[Drunken Irishman]

18. How'd he know?

Okay. She was impaired. A lot of drunks are. Did he sit there and watch her drink 17 drinks? It just seems this is setting up innocent people. I'll tell you something, I'm never buying anyone a drink at a bar. I don't need to risk being penalized for their stupidity.

[geek tragedy]

20. it's against the law to provide booze to someone who's obviously impaired nt

[Drunken Irishman]

29. Obviously not or the establishment would be charged too...

I find it highly unlikely this woman was able to conceal her impairment through sixteen drinks.

[geek tragedy]

32. Had she been at the bar, bartender would get prosecuted and bar sued.

But they can't control what a sober person does with the drink when they walk away from the bar.

[Drunken Irishman]

35. That's not my point...

She had seventeen drinks before the other guy bought her three more. I have a hard time believing she wasn't impaired while ordering any of those last few drinks - especially since it's been stated she was 'clearly' intoxicated. Okay. So, why wasn't it clear prior to the seventeenth drink?

[geek tragedy]

38. If the bartender never saw her . . . nt

[Drunken Irishman]

39. He had to have seen her to give her drinks...

Unless she was getting free drinks all night from other men, then they too would have been charged ... no?

[geek tragedy]

40. Depends who they have on tape, etc. nt

[Drunken Irishman]

41. Na'.

Be consistent. If you're going to charge this man, potentially give him prison time, charge the bartender and close down the establishment. This spotty enforcement of the law is ridiculous. The bar served her SEVENTEEN drinks before this man bought her a paltry three. And yet, he's facing prison time and the bartender isn't?

Bullshit.

[geek tragedy]

48. They have evidence that he provided her booze knowing she was intoxicated.

Any case against the bar itself would be speculative.

[Drunken Irishman]

50. You're right.

This is all speculative - even right down to the supposed intoxication of this woman. We have a tape. That's it. We haven't seen it, we don't know what their definition of clearly intoxicated - except that she was swaying (maybe she was moving to the music). Was she falling over herself? Was she slurring her words? Was she puking? Blacking out?

So, isn't this whole thing based on speculation? You're pretty much speculating the man obviously knew she was drunk...and some others have speculated he purposely gave her alcohol because he knew she was cut off. We're all speculating ... as are the prosecutors. They're speculating he knew she was drunk. They're speculating her swaying was enough to tip him off. They're speculating all around.

[geek tragedy]

53. There needs to be a factual predicate to support the inference. nt

[Drunken Irishman]

55. There really isn't...

They're basing everything on the assumption the man could tell she was drunk because she was 'swaying'.

That opens a whole new can of worms, really, if you think about it. What's 'clearly intoxicated'? What a ridiculous charge that just proves how fucked up America has become.

[geek tragedy]

56. You've never seen anyone you could describe as "clearly intoxicated?" nt

[Drunken Irishman]

58. Sure...but I don't know how this woman was acting.

They say she was clearly intoxicated because she was swaying. Well shit, I sway a lot and stumble sober. That's the problem. It's all subjective. We're speculating it was enough for him to obviously know she was drunk. But there isn't anything to go on here except one quote. So...

[geek tragedy]

59. If you see someone swaying and stumbling in a bar, you don't assume they're drunk? nt

[Drunken Irishman]

62. I can't assume anything...

I don't know how she looked or acted. Obviously she wasn't drunk enough to buy seventeen drinks. So...

[babylonsister]

30. Tell that to the bartender, not the customer. nt

[uponit7771]

22. There are more Americans in jails per capita than any other nation, it's because PA's are allowed...

...crap like this.

Americans are not worse people than any other country, PA's just have more room to fuck up someones life

[Go Vols]

43. +1

[bettyellen]

45. Maybe he knew she was cut off and was trying to get around that? In that case, he should be as

responsible as the bar is. I wonder how much of the 38 years she will actually serve? I hope, all of it.

[uponit7771]

19. From 3 drinks?! Unnnn, you'd have to prove he KNEW about the previous drinks no? tia

[apples and oranges]

27. He may have been high or drunk himself

Apparently he's now serving 3 months in jail for marijuana possession.

[noiretextatique]

31. it's the bar management's responsibility to monitor drinking

not customers.

[Common Sense Party]

2. She was already stumbling and wobbling when he gave her the drinks?

Then she was already drunk. If she had left without consuming the drinks Duran gave her, she still would have been legally drunk, and probably would have killed someone else.

[bunnies]

3. Thats really messed up.

Like the 17 drinks she had before that wouldnt have put her over the limit? The guys not a bartender. Its not his job to tell anyone else that enough is enough. Was the prosecutor drunk when he came up with this idea?

[hughee99]

5. I suspect they went after the bartender first,

but the bartender had said they stopped serving her because she was drunk (apparently, the first 17 drinks was enough to do it).

[bunnies]

16. From the article:

And he contends, "While Duran is providing these three drinks, it is clearly evident on the video that Baukus is intoxicated as she is swaying, side-stepping for balance and walking into tables."

If thats the case, she was already over-served before the guy gave her anything. And once the bartender saw the guy giving her drinks, (s)he should have cut him off too. Or at the very least, taken the drinks away from the woman. That said, it doesnt seem like whe got cut off at all. I tended bar for years and there very few things worse than a customer who doesnt know their limit. Putting the blame of some shmuck who has no obligation to be this womans nanny is crazy.

[hughee99]

36. I'm sure she was overserved before hand, but from the video

it's tough to say that the bartender saw or knew the guy was giving her drinks (maybe he did, but it's not clear from the video). Since the video in the link only seems to show her after the bartender stopped serving her, I can't say what shape she appeared to be in when she got her last drink from the bartender.

As for the patron who was giving her drinks, I don't see how they're going to make a case on this. He has no obligation to her, can probably claim that his judgement was impaired, and might even suggest he offered to "give her a ride home" (which was probably his intention in feeding her drinks just before last call anyway).

[bunnies]

49. Thats no excuse.

Bartenders are required to make sure cut off people dont get any more booze. Its kinda like someone slipping an under-age person a drink. Its the bars responsibility to make sure it doesnt happen.

Your last paragraph I totally agree with. No way this charge will stick. Thankfully.

[theHandpuppet]

4. 20 drinks in a four hour period?

Cripes, can people really drink that much? I mean, without dying?

[Cali_Democrat]

10. Yes. I did it in college

But I never drove.

[Link Speed]

61. We used to knock down a shot of tequila every 15 minutes

followed by a nice line of Peru's finest. We would do this all night long, accompanied by endless beer.

But we never drove, either.

[wercal]

13. Here's a handy dandy calculator

http://dui.drivinglaws.org/calc.php

I depends a lot on your weight. I tried to put 20 drinks in a 4 hr period for a 130 lb woman...and it wouldn't even let me calculate it. So this must have been a big woman.

[tammywammy]

21. There's video at the link

She looks like an average sized woman, not what I'd call big at all.

I'm surprised she's not dead.

[bunnies]

25. She's probably a professional drinker.

She'd have to be with a tolerance that high.

[hughee99]

47. If she was 230lbs, her BAC would have been .323.

If she weighed 600lbs, she still would have been legally drunk (.082), according to the calculator.

[Warpy]

6. I say go after him

If she was already blotto, he had no reason to buy more drinks for her unless he was either betting how long it would take her to hit the floor or if he thought the beer goggles weren't thick enough yet to allow him to get lucky with her.

The bartenders/wait staff might share that culpability if they delivered the drinks, even though the woman herself wasn't paying for them. They had to have seen she was too plastered to warrant more alcohol and they had to realize she might be driving home.

Even if they lose the case, the hell thar rains down on Duran might make other yahoos a little more careful about which woman they're buying drinks for.

At least the hope is out there, even if it is a vain one.

[Drunken Irishman]

12. Disagree.

1) She was already drunk. You can't blame those drinks on her driving drunk because she would have been impaired regardless of drinking 'em. Why blame this guy for three drinks and not the bar for the 17 other she drank? Sure, maybe she was cutoff by the bartender - but that was after SEVENTEEN DRINKS. Not fair, IMO.

2) Do we know he knew she was driving?

3) To the latter's point - does that make everyone in the bar culpable if they allow an obviously impaired woman to drive?

[bunnies]

23. and...

if a bartender cuts someone off then its the bartenders responsibility to make sure that person doesnt get any more alcohol. At any of the bars Ive worked at... the man would have also been cut off and the drinks taken away from both of them. But then again, we'd never serve a person 17 drinks in a 4 hour period. That bartender really sucks at the job.

[Warpy]

34. He bought drinks for an obviously blotto woman the bar had cut off

so he's somewhat culpable, although I agree in principle that the extra 3 drinks probably didn't do the whole deed. In any case, she's already serving timefor the first 17 drinks and driving under the influence.

A stupid ass buying drinks for a drunk who has been cut off by the bar bears some responsibility. Or he should because he's removed the one method a bar has of preventing a customer from doing the worst, a DUI homicide.

[Drunken Irishman]

37. But I'm to buy it was the 17th drink that tipped the scale?

She was certainly 'blotto' prior to the bartender giving her the 17th drink. So, why isn't he culpable?

[Warpy]

42. Good luck with that one in a court of law.

[Drunken Irishman]

44. Sadly, you're right...

It's hilarious, though, the bartender, the one who served her seventeen fucking drinks, doesn't face any charges, but the man who gave her the final three drinks is looking at prison time.

What a goddamn fucked up justice system we have.

[bunnies]

46. Its still the bars responsibility.

If I cut someone off, as a bartender, Im required to make sure she does not get any more alcohol. If this happened in any of the bars Ive worked at, they both would have been cut off and the drinks taken away from them. The bar is responsible for everything that goes on inside the bar. Especially making sure a customer that got cut off doesnt get any more booze.

[NoOneMan]

60. Had she not taken those drinks, we do not know if that would have changed the outcome

This man may have played zero role in her crime and had no way to tell 1) she was going to drive and 2) she was going to kill people

[gollygee]

8. Did he even know she planned to drive?

This seems like it would be hard to prosecute.

[GiaGiovanni]

11. Duran (customer) can always say he didn't think she'd be driving

Plenty of people take taxis home. She may have told him she intended to do that. They were both drunk.

It's a stretch to legally prosecute another customer for buying the woman drinks.

[HappyMe]

17. That's strange.

I would hold the bartender responsible. How the hell would anybody know that she was going to drive. Just because somebody buys you a drink, that doesn't mean you have to glug it down. The 17 drinks she had before that were more than enough to get her well past drunk.

[markiv]

24. heavy alcohol use outside the home is nuts

unless you are absolutely sure of how you or the other person is getting home

heavy alcohol use isnt a great idea, period, but the above is really tossing your and other's futures to fate

[SummerSnow]

26. Now and forever..

the line ,"can I buy you a drink?" is taboo.

[Deep13]

28. Are they going after the alcoholism industry? nt

[apples and oranges]

54. My guess is they're going after drinking and fornication

Men who read this story will think twice about buying drinks for women. The result will be less drinking and fewer one night stands.

[warrant46]

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[SoCalDem]

51. Bars are in business to sell liquor, unaccompanied women often get "free" drinks

from men who may want to get laid, if they can get her drunk enough to go home with them (or them with her). It sucks that this happens, but it does, and has for probably as long as there have been bars.

If a bar is busy, a bartender may not know who is actually receiving the drinks. the assumption is that when people order their first drink, a waitress or door-person will check IDs, but other than that, pretty much anything-goes at most bars.

It's often up to the door person or other patrons to say something to management if they feel like someone is too drunk to drive, and then they might be asked to have a cab called for them..

She needs to go to jail for HER actions, and perhaps the establishment should be fined as well for not having the mechanisms in place to make sure their drunks don;t drive.

[madville]

52. Almost every state has some form of this law

Some apply only to the business selling the alcohol but many, like Texas in this case, have a law saying it is a misdemeanor for "any person" to knowingly serve alcohol to an intoxicated person. Could apply to any setting, public or private under the law.

These laws are rarely enforced though so it is very rare to hear about to happening to another patron at a bar.

[GiaGiovanni]

57. "misdemeanor for "any person" to knowingly serve alcohol to an intoxicated person." How intoxicated

does the person have to be? And how is someone supposed to know?

Let's say I buy a drink for a cute guy who looks like he is fine. Then he gets into a car, hits someone and is 0.09 (just above the legal limit.) He looked ok to me, I had no way of knowing his exact level and no way of knowing how he was getting home. I just thought he was cute, we chatted, and then I had to leave with my friends or something. Should I be responsible because he hits someone?