Its details are drawn from many of the thousands of D.W.I. cases which have occurred in Madison county over the years. It can be a tragedy. It can be a story of triumph and love, or it can be a tale as dark and hopeless as some addictions. It is drawn from a dozen lives and you get to pick the ending. It really can happen to anyone.

DAVE’S STORY

Dave Williams graduated from Cazemadia high school about six years ago. He started experimenting with beer when he was in the sixth grade. Actually he started before that because he used to sneak sips of his dad's beer when he was four or five. When he was in sixth grade, he and a couple of his friends got together and went down to nearby Crystal Lake to drink a six pack. They got really silly and some of the people who own a nearby camp heard them laughing. Since kids in 6^th grade spend a lot of time laughing and acting silly anyway, no one noticed. Dave expected a hangover or some reminder that he'd done something bad, but he didn't feel too badly the next day.

In school Dave didn't do too well but he didn't fail either. Probably he'd have done better, but he spent his time and energy on sports and working at home on the farm. Dave was a darn good wrestler. He was hard-nosed, stubborn, and, in his weight class, there wasn't anyone in his school that could beat him. He began wrestling in the 8^th grade, and he was on the varsity as a freshman. He wrestled all through school; and, by the time he was a senior, he came in second in section III. Dave was also very popular with the girls in high school because he was good-looking, in good shape, and fun to be around. He liked to tell stories, and people enjoyed listening to him. He'd probably picked up the knack of telling jokes and drinking beer from listening to his dad and uncles at family gatherings. At first, Dave got along pretty well with beer. Occasionally he'd have too much to drink, but usually he'd have a friend or girl friend drive him home. When he was a junior he was supposed to take the S.A.T. exams since a number of colleges were interested in him as a wrestler. He and a couple of friends, however, went out the night before, and Dave didn't wake up until the SAT's were ending. When his wrestling coach asked him how he'd done on the S.A.T.s, Dave shook his head and said that he hadn't taken them. The coach wanted him to take them on a makeup date, but it never happened. Dave decided that he just wasn't meant to go to college. During high school Dave met a girl named Becky. She was smart, pretty, and he liked to say that she was the best thing that ever happened to him. They happened to be in a couple of sophomore classes together and they began to talk.

Dave thought she was the nicest, kindest, and smartest girl he'd ever met. In addition, her father owned a large dairy farm, and they had that background in common as well. Becky was a basketball star for Cazemadia, although she didn't get as much attention as Dave did. She watched his wrestling matches whenever she could, and by their senior year they were a real item. Becky decided that she wanted to go on to college, and that was probably the hardest thing that happened to Dave. He began working on the family farm full-time after they graduated, and she went off to Oswego to become a teacher. Because Becky didn't come home, Dave spent every weekend driving up to Oswego to see her. Becky would have graduated from Oswego, but she got pregnant during her junior year. Becky's family wasn't exactly pleased by this development. Her father was very proud that she was going to college. Dave and Becky loved one another, however, and there was never a question of whether or not they would marry. They had a big fight at Oswego State on the day that Dave went up with her to pick up her belongings from school.

They got married in a small wedding that summer, and, in the fall, Brett Williams was born. Dave was getting tired of working on his dad's farm, and he took a job as a route salesman for the Moo Dairy. They moved into a rented house and began the big job of raising a family. It proved to be a bigger task then either of them had imagined. Dave learned all about diapering a baby, and they split the job of getting up in the middle of the night. They weren't kids anymore, and each of them could count on the other to share the burden of work that needed to be done. While they weren't rich, they were making a go of it, and they were happy. Dave joined the volunteer fire department and was a well-liked member. In order to be a good member, Dave became active in the department's work and play. Dave had always been interested in sports. He enjoyed watching football, basketball and baseball, and he still enjoyed drinking beer. In fact Becky used to joke that if there was a ball bouncing anywhere that Dave would be watching it with a beer in his hand. Dave usually had one or two beers every day after dinner. During the summer Dave was the catcher on the fire department's softball team. During the winter he would usually go to a bar only on the weekends, but when softball season began he went there after most of the games.

Last summer Dave went to his favorite bar, the Amber Inn, following a long game. It was already 9:00 P.M. when the team got there. Dave was usually considerate about calling his wife when he knew that he was going to be late. Since he usually drank for a couple of hours, it looked like he'd be out later than usual, and he called Becky to tell her that he should be home by 11:15 P.M. On this particular night the talk was good, the jokes were better, and before he realized it, the clock said that it was 11:15 PM. Dave didn't quite remember how much he'd had to drink when he said good night to his buddies. What he'd had was exactly seven beers in the 2 ¼ hours. Hopping into his pickup truck, he took off for home, which was about 6 miles away. He was aware that he was late, and he was driving a little too fast, trying to make it home as soon as he could. About 2 miles from home, he was traveling down a straight stretch of road and approaching a curve. Dave was adjusting the volume on his cassette deck when he drove off the right side of the road, through a farm fence and into a field. As he was driving through the fence, it raked the side of his two-year old truck and a fence post banged in his fender just above his right front wheel. Dave slammed his nose on the steering wheel because he hadn't fastened his seatbelt. When he banged his nose it began to bleed. He also bumped the top of his head against the inside roof of his truck. As he got out he saw a light go on in the farm house nearby. Before long a man came down the driveway with a light in his hand. It was a Bob Foster, a man whom Dave had known since he was a child. Bob had been Dave's little league baseball coach, and both he and Dave were a little embarrassed to see each other in these circumstances. Dave asked him not to call the police, but Bob explained that he'd already called the State Troopers. It seems that a number of other motorists had run off the road on this stretch and then driven off. Bob was tired of paying for broken fences.

When the State Trooper got to the farm, he questioned Dave about what had happened and Dave told the truth. Dave wasn't mad and he treated the Trooper politely. In spite of that fact, Dave was told that he was suspected of driving while intoxicated. He was asked to perform several roadside sobriety tests, and he didn't think that he’d done too badly. He did stumble when he was asked to walk a straight line, though, and after a few more questions the Trooper had Dave blow into an alco-sensor. When the Trooper looked at the results, he placed Dave under arrest for D.W.I.

Dave was handcuffed and then taken back to the State Police station and processed for DWI. His truck was towed at an eventual cost of $100. He was given a breathalyzer test and he registered .10% The Trooper told him that the level of .10%, meant that he was intoxicated. His photo and fingerprints were taken, and he was given a ticket for an appearance in court at a later date. Dave was upset by the arrest. He felt stupid. No one in his family had ever been arrested. When he called home and said that he was at the State Police station, the phone went silent for a time. Becky's voice sounded very strange when she finally came back on the line. Dave felt terrible. He felt as if he wanted to crawl into a hole. About 45 minutes later Becky showed up at the station with Brett in the back seat, all wrapped up in a blanket. Brett looked confused and scared. Becky's expression was somewhere between hurt and anger. It was the first time that he'd seen her look at him with disappointment, and it pained him deep inside. The ride home was silent because neither one of them wanted to talk in front of their son. After they put Brett to bed, Dave tried to explain to Becky what had happened. She was trying hard to be reasonable, but she kept shaking her head from side to side, and he could see that she was very uptight. His stomach felt sick when he went to bed, and he woke up with a bad headache.

Dave's troubles began for real on the day after his arrest. He called several attorneys and finally got one to take his case for $750. Since Dave made $24,000. a year and they had only $1100. in savings, money was going to be a problem. His attorney told him that he needed an alcohol evaluation in order to proceed with his case. The alcohol evaluation cost him $75., and he had to sit down with a counselor for over an hour and talk about his drinking. He became angry at one point and threatened to walk out of the session. He wasn't some "damned alcoholic" and the counselor had no right to ask him things about his family. He was told that he'd have to complete an alcohol education program which would cost him $75. for each of eight sessions or a total of $600. When the court case came up, he appeared and plead guilty to a reduced charge of Driving While Ability Impaired. He was fined $350. with a court surcharge of $25.00. When he appeared in court his license was suspended for 90 days. In order to get a conditional license he had to attend seven sessions of the N.Y.S. Drinking Driver Program at a cost of $175. When he successfully completed the program he had to pay $75. more for a conditional license. Before he got this license back, however, something else happened. At work, Dave had always gotten along well with his supervisor Bill. When he told Bill what had happened, Bill's eyes became very cold and he said, "Well what do you thinK I can do about it? If you can't drive what am I supposed do?" Dave was stunned. He was also out of work. The DWI had already cost Dave $2,150. Since the Williams were just making it before the arrest, it immediately wiped out their savings. Since they had to have the money right away, they were forced to take an equity loan out against the new house they'd just moved into. The worst blow comes when Dave's insurance company found out about his conviction. The company immediately canceled his policy. When he found another company that would take him, he discovered that his policy had gone from $900. to $2400. a year. In order to pay for the insurance and other expenses, Barbara Williams asked her father for some money. Her father had always gotten along with Dave, but after the DWI, Dave noticed that he wasn't as friendly anymore. Dave went back to work on his Dad’s farm at one third less than he'd been making. He hated the work but he had no choice. Two months after the DWI, Becky gave birth to their second child, a beautiful baby girl which they named Heather.

NOW YOU GET TO CHOOSE HOW THIS STORY WILL END. OVER THE YEARS, BOTH OF THESE ENDINGS HAVE OCCURRED MANY TIMES:

ENDING # 1

Dave refuses to stop drinking. The D.W.I. has caused him real problems in his marriage. All the time which he's spending at the D.W.I. schools, court, and in hearings leaves him less time to spend at home. With the new baby, Dave feels the pressure of added responsibility. He wants to escape the pressure and begins going to bars during the week instead of just on the weekend. The other guys on the fire department kid him about his D.W.I. and it hurts. He pretends it doesn’t matter, however, and makes jokes about it himself. At a bar he meets a girl named Cindy who drinks there regularly. She convinces him that she understands him better than his wife ever will. At home, Becky has begun to complain about the time he spends drinking. After one nasty argument in which Dave smashes a lamp, he leaves home and moves in with Cindy. He can't afford a divorce after the expense of the D.W.I. and feels badly that he has ruined his marriage. The worse he feels, the more he drinks. Eventually he moves out of his girl friend's house because he can't stand her three kids. As several years pass, Dave sees less and less of his children and his drinking increases. He gets fired from job after job and ends up renting a room above a bar. Once while he is shopping at a convenience store, he runs into Becky, and she is shocked by his dirty clothes and run-down appearance. She grabs his arm and pleads with him to come home. Reacting with shame to the pity she has shown, he pulls his arm away and stalks out of the store. That is the last time she sees him alive. A week later, while he is driving while intoxicated, his truck runs off the road into a ditch and rolls over. Because he isn't wearing a seatbelt, he is thrown out the driver’s window and lands face down in the ditch. The truck lands on top of him, and he's killed instantly. Becky still loves him in spite of everything that has happened. She takes out a personal loan to pay for his funeral over the objection of her father. No one that he drinks with finds time to attend the service. Brett, who is six, cries because his dad is gone. Heather never really knew him, but she holds her mother’s hand and watches the tears run down her cheeks. As the minister says the final blessing, Becky remembers Dave’s broad grin as the referee lifted his arm after a wrestling match.
 
 

ENDING # 2

After going through all of the unpleasantness and expense of his first D.W.I., Dave realizes that there is no one to blame except himself. He realizes that he has been given a second chance, and he vows that he will take advantage of it. He stops drinking and spends that time at home with his family. As his kids grow, the arrest becomes a distant memory. His daughter Heather loves basketball, and his son Brett loves wrestling, just as he did. The family spends time driving to see their games. Dave gets a job with another trucking company. He works hard and eventually gets promoted. Dave and Becky work at being happy the rest of their lives. When someone at work asks him if he wants to go out drinking, he shakes his head and says, "No thanks." Every now and then he or Becky will see a newspaper article about someone they know who has been arrested for D.W.I. When Becky says "Look what happened to Jim," Dave just rolls his eyes and they share a laugh of relief, not because of their friend’s bad luck, but just because their lives have veered away from disaster. Whenever Dave gets in the car, Brett and Heather both remind him to buckle up his seatbelt. Dave always thanks them. He feels glad that they love him.