Athens Review, Athens, Texas

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June 22, 2009

MAIL CALL: Justice served in Cooper case

I have been closely watching as the criminal drunk driving case of the State of Texas versus Kenneth Cooper worked its way through the judicial system. I am very proud of my hometown, and of the district attorney who refused to allow prestige, prominence or privilege to deter him from him his sworn duties.

There are many tragedies in this debacle. Firstly, the life of a respected businessman in my hometown, along with his professional reputation have been forever damaged. Not only his personally, but the business which bore his name is tarnished. My son and I were discussing the case after the sentence had been handed down, and he said, “Dad, how can someone who sees these things as a mortician make that choice?” I had never thought of that, but the truth is Mr. Cooper had probably seen many instances in his professional life where the innocent and the guilty alike had their lives taken because of drunken driving. Yet, he chose to drink to the point of inebriation and get behind the wheel of his Suburban which would be turned into a deadly weapon.

Secondly, the lives of two innocent people have been irrevocably changed as a result of the man’s actions. These two were doing nothing wrong, and from all reports were obeying the traffic laws. Yet, because a man chose to act in an irresponsible manner, one of these victims will never experience the quality of life that she had previously enjoyed.

Some may want to blame the private club on Highway 31 for complicity in this. But, let’s lay the responsibility where it belongs; solely at the feet of Mr. Cooper. He chose to drink. The bartender did not force him to imbibe. Mr. Cooper chose to drive. Nobody forced him behind the wheel of the SUV. He drove that vehicle toward Athens, and had almost reached his destination when tragedy struck.

Six years seems like a long and many may say an unfair sentence. But let’s consider the fact that the more seriously injured of the victims will suffer much more serious consequences from Cooper’s actions for a much longer time than six years. She will never be the same woman that she was just prior to the crash.

In summary, I have no compassion for a drunken driver. They may as well take a gun, place it against the head of their victims and pull the trigger. While their intention may not be premeditated, the fact remains that their actions destroy lives. This was driven home to my immediate family in February of 2009 when a driver who is a three-time loser as far as DUIs are concerned drank to the point of three times the legal limit, got behind the wheel of a borrowed Ford F150 pickup, and drove east on Highway 34 toward Ennis. Shortly after 11 p.m., his actions changed my family’s lives forever. My beautiful niece, who was driving home from work, saw the truck coming in her lane and had pulled as far to the right as the guard rails along the side of the road would allow, and had almost come to a complete stop when the truck hit her Kia head-on. Cindy died shortly after 2 a.m. at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, leaving a devastated husband, two daughters, one son and a loving granddaughter. I can only hope that the Ellis County District Attorney will be as diligent in his prosecution as the Henderson County D.A. was. If people love bars this much, and they choose to drink and drive, they need to be locked up behind bars for the rest of their natural lives.

Don Ricks

Midlothian

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