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i'm john cadlick the reno city attorney
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and this is reno periscope
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a look at topics of interest here in the
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city of reno this is going to be the
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fourth in a series of shows we've done
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on the topic of driving under the
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influence
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in our first show we did a dui arrest
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from the actual stop by the officer
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through the field sobriety test the
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breath test and the final booking into
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jail
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in the second show
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we did a
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mini dui trial with a prosecuting
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attorney a defense attorney in front of
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the judge with witnesses
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and then later had a conversation with
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the judge and the attorneys regarding
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the topic of driving under the influence
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our third show we dealt with the dui
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penalties
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as well as
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the effects on your insurance as a
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result of getting a dui
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from that we're into the fourth show and
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the fourth show we're going to cover one
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topic which is the penalty you get
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requiring you to attend the victim
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impact panel
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because that is something that is very
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important to understand from the
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perspective of
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what has happened to people as a result
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of drunk drivers
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and my guest today is john hartman
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who actively participates in the
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victim impact panel and he's going to
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tell us about the victim impact panel
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and about his story as well
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now first of all mr hartman i'm going to
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have to put on my glasses in order to
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read my questions one of the things
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about getting a little bit older you
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need reading glasses
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mr hartman could you explain to us the
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purpose of the victim impact panel
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why it exists and who attends it
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the victim impact panel is a panel that
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is comprised of
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victims and survivors of intoxicated
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drivers
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we are a
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volunteer organization that speaks to
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convicted offenders who have been
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sentenced for driving under the
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influence and our main purpose is to
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show a different side of a
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dui not the criminal
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not the fines and fees but the impact
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that an intoxicated driver has on other
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people in the community
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and
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how often is the victim impact panel
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held
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when and where is it held and how long
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do the meetings normally last
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we have a panel approximately
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actually we have a panel every month but
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we also do additional panels when we
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have an overflow
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the panel is held at the reno council
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chambers on 9th street
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and it lasts about an hour and a half
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sometimes a little more
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and
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what does it cost to attend the victim
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impact panel i assume there is a fee
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there is a fee it is the victim impact
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panel is
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part of the sentence that everybody who
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is convicted for a drug or alcohol
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related offense is sentenced to the fee
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is thirty dollars
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is that something they pay at the door
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correct they pay thirty dollars in cash
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or uh
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money order
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and what is the money used for
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the
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that you collect for the victim impact
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panel the northern nevada dui task force
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uses the money that is collected and all
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of the money it is a volunteer
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organization non non-profit
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the money is used to fund extra programs
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in the community such as saturation
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patrols we help to assist the cost of
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that
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we
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pay for computers that go into the
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patrol cars extra breathalyzer units for
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the officers
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we pay for programs like the
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big drinking holidays typically st
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patrick's day new year's some of those
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events we pay for bus rides
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help to assist with taxis
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tipsy tow programs it's used in the
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community to
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help benefit the community by removing
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the possibilities of other drunk drivers
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and
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this is held at the washoe county
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commission chambers so on an average
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month how many how many people are in
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attendance
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at the council chambers we can hold
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approximately 265 people we have folding
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chairs and that gets us about 280 people
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every month
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unfortunately we are seeing such an
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increase in this now we're turning
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approximately 80 to 100 people away
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every month and we will be moving to a
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larger location in october
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where are you moving to do you know the
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lawler events center
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so how many will you be able to
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accommodate there approximately 500.
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and if a person wanted to bring a guest
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that is perhaps another family member or
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someone who has
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perhaps alcohol issues can they do that
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right now because of the capacity and
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the limitations on our size we are not
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allowing extra visitors
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as we're able to we get them in
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we try to get as many people to view our
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panel as possible we're always open to
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having visitors in there currently we
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just don't have the space when we move
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to our larger location we will allow
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more visitors to attend and witness
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so once you go to lawler it'll be a once
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a month event correct
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now
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how and why did you become involved with
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the victim impact panel so first a
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little bit about me my name is john
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hartman
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was born and raised here in reno
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when i was 18
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i became an emt
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as a result of being raised in the
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hospital that is now known as renowned
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medical
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my dad started the care flight program
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my parents were very heavily involved in
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the emergency room my mom was an
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emergency room nurse so i grew up with a
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lot of trauma and a lot of time that i
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spent in the emergency room i saw the
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broken bodies
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that were caused by drunk driving or
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drug related driving
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i turned 18 i became an emt
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and i rode along with the local
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ambulance companies where i got to
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physically see
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the bended cars the broken bodies
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the deaths the trauma
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and i got to see it up close
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when i was 18 i was driving home to my
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parents house on mount rose highway
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and i witnessed a car pull out of a bar
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that is down south into town where the
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new walmart is
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and i watched it plow into the car in
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front of me
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that had a mom and three kids in it
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as a new emt i got out and tried to
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render aid
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and i held the woman's five-year-old my
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arms until he died
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in my arms
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when i became 21
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i got into law enforcement worked for
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the washington county sheriff's office
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for a few years as a deputy
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where i was exposed to the criminal side
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of it
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i.e
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pulling over seeing you guys
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arresting you going to court going
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through the trials
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so pretty well-rounded
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and then six years ago this october
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i was dating this wonderful woman that
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we'd been together for about seven weeks
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and
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we decided to go for a ride on my
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motorcycle one day up outside of truckee
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and we met a drunk driver head-on
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i spent two and a half months of my life
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in icu
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i've had 27 surgeries
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i have one more pending
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my girlfriend who is now my wife sitting
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over here
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has had nine
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between the two of us
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million six in medical
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so there is nothing that you guys
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have experienced that i haven't
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personally experienced
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very very knowledgeable on this and
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that's part of the reason why i'm here
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try to sit in a pain clinic
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watching the love of your life
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get
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in
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and this is
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a two inch long needle
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that is eight gauge in diameter which is
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basically
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the size of a number two pencil when
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it's going india
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and they don't just
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sin
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and give you a small injection
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is there a reason that you won't look
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over here
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because this is geared specifically
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towards you
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think about what this is like to have
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this stabbed into you
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because this is the only thing that gets
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rid of chronic pain
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and they don't just stick it in and give
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you a little shot and take it out they
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stick it in slowly to avoid all the
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muscles in your back and around your
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spine so they don't paralyze you with it
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and then they inject it
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and then they lift it up and they move
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it a little bit and they stick it back
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down in and they do that three times in
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every spot
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and i realize that this is a horrible
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imposition on your life right now but
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you're here because you broke the law
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and this is
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a result of that
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this is the stuff that you guys cause
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to your friends
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to your families
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to the other drivers on the road
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and there is no measure for this kind of
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pain
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you said you had an eight-year-old
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think about watching a doctor stick
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something like that into your child's
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body
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so they can stop hurting
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does that scare you
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it should
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it should scare the hell out of all of
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you
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i would rather cut my foot off
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with a hacksaw
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than to sit in that pain clinic office
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one more time
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while i do that to my wife
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while she screams in absolute agony well
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she is literally breaking my hand
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while she's holding it
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they gave me fentanyl anybody know what
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fentanyl is
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strongest drug on the face of the planet
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eighteen hundred microgram fentanyl
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sticks
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take this that didn't work
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gave me methadone anybody know what
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methadone is
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what's it commonly used for
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heroin
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great ex-cop and emt on heroin drugs
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neat
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problem with that
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is that they give you
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if your heroin had a train load of it
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take away the heroin they start tapering
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it down
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when they use it for pain control and it
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is a very effective pain med they go the
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other way
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now the problem with that is
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methadone is the
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most highly addictive
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prescription on the planet
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there is nothing more addictive when
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it's taken for a long period of time
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they handed out like candy at pain
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clinics
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and these people are driving with you
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because not once did my wife or i ever
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get told don't drive
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obviously when you speak at the victim
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impact panel you tell the people your
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story how how the drunk driver affected
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you
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who are some of the other speakers and
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how are they chosen to speak
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we have a number of speakers on our
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panels we have
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younger adults all the way up to
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elderly people that have all been
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touched in one way or another by
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drunk drivers
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and
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some of our panels
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actually have been offenders in in the
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past and have story along that line too
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what we do
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to screen our applicants we have a
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task force board that
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when we have a new speaker
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show us interest that they're interested
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in showing their story and telling their
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story
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we review their story with the board and
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make sure that it's an appropriate
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platform and then we will introduce them
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slowly into the group so they can speak
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and and share
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their tragedy with the audience
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so that could mean as in your case you
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were the actual victim of a drunk driver
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but that could also mean like a family
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member who's lost the family member as a
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result of a drunk driver or who has a
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family member who's been
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injured as a result of a drunk driver it
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doesn't necessarily mean the panel
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speakers are all people who've been
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victims they may
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be in the family of victims is that
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correct correct we have one
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speaker
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it's a husband and wife who lost their
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18 year old son dj bonardis to a drunk
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driver
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let's talk about
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personal experience so we can kind of
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make this a little more
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kind of
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this is what can happen to our first
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speaker tonight is a man by the name of
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don
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don has been with our panel for many
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years
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and is a
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not quite a complete quadriplegic but
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is in a wheelchair has no function
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of his legs limited function of his arms
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and he will talk to you about his story
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and how he became involved in this
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how many of you know somebody in a
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wheelchair
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how many of you want to be in a
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wheelchair
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i started drinking when i was 15 years
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old
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i started breaking horses when i was
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about 17.
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i started hunting when i was 12.
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fishing since i was eight
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my life was in mountains
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around animals
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ranches
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worked out back stations
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i know the sierra is like the back of my
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hand been into every little lake you can
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imagine
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even lakes with not even on the map i've
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been
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what time is it my time is 11th grade in
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high school i was out of control
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full-blown alcoholic
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like to do my own things didn't like
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school
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rather go fishing hunting
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rather work
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so i end up dropping out
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by the time i was 25 i lost all my
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friends family gave up on me
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because all i did was work and drink
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was it
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work work hard drink hard play hard
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that was my life
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finally i
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moved to winnemucca nevada
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and went to work in elko
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to work on the third biggest ranch in
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nevada
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about four and a half million acres
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it was the best job i ever had in my
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life
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because you can't find uh you can't grow
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alcohol on trees
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and you can't
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find drugs out middle of nowhere
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i was into uh pie at first and i got
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into uh heavy with cocaine and crank
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rich man drug and i wasn't that rich so
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i had no money i was pretty well
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strapped all the time
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but because i was up in
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line shacks and cabins and
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up by myself working on fences and
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working with cows
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i was able to sell myself sober myself
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uh get off the drugs
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and uh
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realized i knew what i want to do in
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life
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and i'd just be a full-time cowboy
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make a little bit of money work hard
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but have a good life
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on the night of july 3
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1991
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my life would change forever
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my brother and his serial daughter came
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by the ranch
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so we could go to his house just spend
00:16:51
the fourth of july
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watch a parade
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hang out together
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watch the um fireworks
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it's gonna be a
00:17:02
good weekend plan
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i had spoke with my brother for about a
00:17:06
year and a half
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because of
00:17:10
all the stuff i was into and
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we kind of had it out
00:17:15
so it was a good makeup
00:17:17
time
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but when he picked me up he probably
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drank probably a six pack on the way
00:17:24
there
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probably had another four beers
00:17:28
as we stopped by this lake so his my
00:17:31
niece could fish and play in the water
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and
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we could catch up
00:17:36
he offered me a beer i drank about a
00:17:38
half of one
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i don't know and if you ever stop
00:17:42
drinking and then try to drink again
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it's
00:17:45
the first taste of berry kind of make
00:17:46
you sick to your stomach you had to get
00:17:48
used to that taste again
00:17:51
so i just i had a half beer
00:17:54
through and threw it away
00:17:57
well he drank another couple more beers
00:18:02
and we were off and jump in the truck
00:18:06
because i used to work seven days a week
00:18:09
12 to 15 hours a day
00:18:12
i was pretty tired
00:18:14
and i fell asleep
00:18:17
i heard my brother yelling hold on
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truck with fish changing from one side
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of the road to the other
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then everything went black
00:18:27
when i woke up i was halfway through the
00:18:29
passenger window
00:18:32
i wanted to go get help i want to get
00:18:34
out
00:18:36
see if my niece was okay see if my
00:18:37
brother was okay
00:18:39
i tried to move my hands and they
00:18:41
wouldn't move
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i tried to move my legs
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they wouldn't move
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i went oh my god what am gonna do
00:18:49
i asked god to help
00:18:52
and then i heard my niece crying for his
00:18:55
her daddy
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and i calmed her down and said her daddy
00:19:00
was coming
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my brother
00:19:03
finally got to the truck
00:19:05
and he broke his hand trying to break
00:19:07
the window
00:19:09
so he can get into the
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the window so he could pull her out
00:19:15
then he came to my side and want to pull
00:19:17
me out no my neck's broken
00:19:21
so i told him go get help they went
00:19:26
luckily for us a car came by and they
00:19:28
went got help
00:19:30
the almonds got there the paramedics
00:19:33
they forgot one important part of the
00:19:35
equipment
00:19:36
a neck collar
00:19:39
because we're way out middle nowhere
00:19:41
outside of battle mountain
00:19:46
um the only one that had it would have
00:19:48
been the ambulance and
00:19:50
they already used it with their next
00:19:53
um patient before me and
00:19:55
forgot it at the hospital
00:19:58
they had to roll two towels up
00:20:00
put them on either side of my neck
00:20:03
fireman had to put his hands around my
00:20:05
neck hit the towels
00:20:07
and then they'd duct tape his hands
00:20:10
then they cut me out of the truck and
00:20:12
got me to the ambulance
00:20:16
when i got to the
00:20:18
hospital battle mountain
00:20:20
i laid on the table and he asked me
00:20:23
doctor asked me if i could uh
00:20:25
move my fingers i couldn't move him
00:20:29
asked me to raise my arms i
00:20:31
just laid there
00:20:33
asked me to wiggle my toes raise my legs
00:20:37
i couldn't move nothing i just laid
00:20:39
there
00:20:41
they took a sharp instrument and started
00:20:44
poking me
00:20:45
from my toes
00:20:47
all the way up to my chest
00:20:49
and finally up above my nipple line i
00:20:51
was able to fill
00:20:57
they finally
00:20:59
they gave me x-rays
00:21:02
came back and said i uh my neck's broken
00:21:05
they had to fly me to reno
00:21:09
they i had i cracked my head open pretty
00:21:11
good
00:21:12
had like
00:21:14
16 stitches and 20 staples
00:21:20
got to the
00:21:21
where they flew me i went into the
00:21:22
airplane
00:21:24
the nurse there
00:21:26
asked me about how i was and
00:21:28
i was comfortable
00:21:31
i said yeah i asked her if i would ever
00:21:33
walk again
00:21:35
she couldn't answer me she just held my
00:21:37
hand
00:21:41
and i couldn't even feel it i couldn't
00:21:43
even feel her hold my hand
00:21:46
when we got to the hospital
00:21:49
they gave me x-rays
00:21:52
more tests
00:21:54
and came back this said i shattered my
00:21:56
vertebrae
00:21:59
the fourth and fifth
00:22:02
which i was too away from being a
00:22:04
christopher reed
00:22:09
i went through surgery
00:22:11
result
00:22:13
two steel plates
00:22:15
piece my hip bone
00:22:17
and four screws
00:22:19
to keep my spines together
00:22:22
the doctor and surgeon told me i'll
00:22:24
never walk again
00:22:26
i will never have control of my bowels
00:22:28
or my bladder
00:22:31
most likely i'll probably end up in the
00:22:33
nursing home for the rest of my life
00:22:36
having someone feed me
00:22:40
i went to rehab
00:22:42
and
00:22:44
work and
00:22:45
by luck i was able to get a little bit
00:22:47
more back
00:22:48
i was able to do so much on my own
00:22:52
they taught me how to teach people how
00:22:54
to dress me
00:22:55
how to give me a shower
00:22:57
how to take care of my personal care
00:23:02
i live on my own
00:23:04
have my own apartment
00:23:07
i do pretty good i had to have someone
00:23:09
come in and get me up in the morning
00:23:11
give me a shower
00:23:13
help me with my bowels and bladder
00:23:15
and then put me to bed at night
00:23:18
if they don't show up then i gotta wait
00:23:20
till somebody show up to put me to bed
00:23:23
i've been left up all night before
00:23:26
i've been left in bed all day before
00:23:31
and it happens all the time
00:23:34
i rely on people to help me
00:23:37
every day of my life
00:23:42
i was able to learn how to do certain
00:23:44
things
00:23:45
i can feed myself
00:23:48
pick some things up
00:23:50
i was able to get the reno rodeo
00:23:52
association bought me a saddle
00:23:55
so i can get back on a horse again
00:23:58
but i had to have someone help me get on
00:24:00
this horse
00:24:01
then they had to velcro me in the saddle
00:24:04
strapped me in
00:24:06
i can barely ride but it's it's still
00:24:10
pleasurable i enjoy it
00:24:13
i've been water water skin snow skin
00:24:17
i have scuba dive
00:24:20
i keep myself pretty busy
00:24:23
but imagine
00:24:25
you have to have someone every day of
00:24:27
your life
00:24:29
to have to be to rely on
00:24:33
for a little bit of independence
00:24:36
i had to rely on somebody
00:24:45
i want you to think about when you're
00:24:47
back out and you leave this
00:24:50
program
00:24:52
and i'm not sure what the percentage is
00:24:54
but there's a percentage
00:24:56
of you
00:24:58
it will be back out there drinking
00:25:01
and driving
00:25:02
and doing the same thing again
00:25:07
and while you're doing that i want you
00:25:08
to think about this
00:25:10
as you're driving
00:25:13
hammer or high
00:25:16
you look at that person next to you
00:25:20
your best friend
00:25:22
your wife
00:25:23
husband
00:25:25
girlfriend
00:25:27
boyfriend
00:25:29
your child
00:25:31
look behind you in that child's seat
00:25:34
a little baby innocent baby
00:25:38
that child who is helpless
00:25:40
who rely on you to help that child
00:25:45
because their independent belongs to you
00:25:49
and as you go around that corner
00:25:53
you take a good look at me and you take
00:25:57
a good listen to the other speakers
00:26:00
and then your vehicle wrecked
00:26:04
and this is what's going to happen not
00:26:06
you
00:26:07
the percentage is you're going to be
00:26:09
fine
00:26:11
but then you get to understand
00:26:14
what my brother lives with every day of
00:26:17
his life
00:26:19
what he done to his little brother
00:26:23
it will never go away i will never walk
00:26:27
i don't care what the
00:26:29
government says about this or this and
00:26:32
this
00:26:33
i will never walk there's no
00:26:36
cure there's no cure for spinal cord
00:26:41
you check look around the malls and
00:26:43
around
00:26:44
there's a lot of people out there in
00:26:46
wheelchairs
00:26:47
just like me
00:26:51
and you know most most spinal cords
00:26:53
are because the drugs and alcohol
00:26:56
driving
00:26:58
either vehicles motorcycles or diving
00:27:01
because they're high or they're drunk
00:27:04
and that's a fact
00:27:08
all i ask you please
00:27:10
take this program serious
00:27:12
take a good look at me
00:27:15
and listen to the other speakers
00:27:18
because you don't want to ever have to
00:27:20
live
00:27:22
what i do
00:27:23
every day
00:27:25
thank you
00:27:27
first of all
00:27:29
i always like to look around the
00:27:30
audience
00:27:32
because after all
00:27:35
we're experts at this you know
00:27:38
it's your first time here son
00:27:40
been here before
00:27:42
you've seen us before probably
00:27:45
so we've only done this
00:27:51
a little over a hundred times
00:27:54
looking at someone just like you
00:27:56
and you
00:27:59
and always i'm interested to know
00:28:04
who doesn't really give a damn
00:28:13
you
00:28:15
how about you
00:28:17
you
00:28:20
how about you
00:28:21
feel like superman
00:28:26
think you could stop that car
00:28:30
so do i
00:28:34
see what it did to that jeep
00:28:42
we got a lot in common
00:28:46
you and i
00:28:47
all of you
00:28:50
you don't want to be here tonight
00:28:52
but you got to be
00:28:55
you don't want to be
00:28:57
but you got to be
00:28:59
you too
00:29:03
we don't want to be here tonight
00:29:06
we got to be
00:29:10
we got a message for you
00:29:13
if you pay attention
00:29:15
it could save your life
00:29:18
could save you from the cemetery
00:29:20
ever think about that
00:29:24
probably not when you were having that
00:29:25
drink
00:29:32
now john said
00:29:33
get to know your neighbor
00:29:38
what you were getting to know
00:29:40
was a potential killer
00:29:46
you think
00:29:49
that with your pistol
00:29:51
you could do that kind of damage
00:29:57
you know the
00:29:59
challenge we have
00:30:02
is trying to get you to
00:30:04
pay attention and care
00:30:07
i mean you live in a land of
00:30:09
freedom you got men overseas getting
00:30:12
killed
00:30:13
to
00:30:14
give you your freedoms your freedoms of
00:30:16
choice and what right
00:30:18
do you think
00:30:21
that you can conduct yourself in such a
00:30:23
way
00:30:25
that you could kill yourself
00:30:27
or somebody else
00:30:29
does that ever occur to you
00:30:32
or do you even give a damn
00:30:34
how about you
00:30:36
you care
00:30:39
you care
00:30:43
because if you don't
00:30:45
i got a great solution for you
00:30:48
you care son
00:30:51
how about you folks
00:30:53
you think this is a waste of time you
00:30:55
think we get up here and
00:30:57
go through this
00:31:02
how about you getting the message son
00:31:05
sorry
00:31:10
me too
00:31:12
no
00:31:13
but for those of you don't care
00:31:17
i understand the uh
00:31:20
us army
00:31:23
is looking for a few good people men and
00:31:25
women
00:31:27
you know what
00:31:29
they'll train you to kill
00:31:32
i'm going to give you a gun
00:31:34
and you're going to send your rear end
00:31:36
overseas
00:31:39
but the difference is
00:31:41
when you get overseas
00:31:44
the person that you're going to be
00:31:46
coming up against is going to have a gun
00:31:48
too he's going to want to kill you
00:31:52
and you
00:31:53
or any of the rest of you that really
00:31:55
don't give a damn
00:31:57
so i'd suggest in the morning
00:32:01
call up the us army
00:32:04
and get with it
00:32:05
and get the hell off our streets
00:32:08
when you've got the weapon at the bottom
00:32:10
of your foot
00:32:13
why don't you try that
00:32:15
if you don't give a damn
00:32:20
it's licensed to drive folks
00:32:23
it's not a license to kill and i'll tell
00:32:24
you something
00:32:26
you may not make it home tonight
00:32:29
you know that
00:32:31
what john tell you
00:32:33
only getting about 10 of them 250 of it
00:32:36
in here tonight that's 2500 out there
00:32:47
or
00:32:49
someday
00:32:50
you might be up here
00:32:53
you might be speaking in my place
00:32:57
and you lose somebody in your family
00:33:02
or
00:33:04
maybe be in prison
00:33:05
because you killed somebody
00:33:12
how about you
00:33:14
big band there
00:33:16
no no don't look around i'm talking to
00:33:18
you the gray
00:33:21
you give a damn
00:33:24
it's a waste of time
00:33:27
i hope we don't see you here again
00:33:35
to get to the
00:33:36
victim impact panel
00:33:39
i assume some people drive even though
00:33:41
their license has been suspended as a
00:33:43
result of driving under the influence
00:33:46
what happens to people who may drive to
00:33:48
the victim impact panel after their
00:33:50
license has been suspended
00:33:52
unfortunately it happens very very
00:33:54
frequently we have law enforcement staff
00:33:57
that
00:33:59
sit in the parking lot and surrounding
00:34:01
areas and anybody who comes into the
00:34:03
panel or the surrounding areas has their
00:34:06
driver's license and license plates
00:34:08
checked and when they show up driving on
00:34:11
a suspended license
00:34:12
they have an additional fine and can be
00:34:14
arrested for that as well because
00:34:16
they're not following their court order
00:34:18
so in other words the word to the wise
00:34:22
is to not drive yourself to the victim
00:34:25
impact panel
00:34:27
i believe that they tell that to people
00:34:30
anyway but not everybody
00:34:32
listens to good advice and
00:34:35
as far as
00:34:36
i assume that sometimes people who come
00:34:38
to the victim impact panel may choose to
00:34:42
more or less have a few drinks before
00:34:44
they come does that happen on occasion
00:34:46
it happens almost every occasion
00:34:49
that we have a panel unfortunately we
00:34:52
deal with people who not only have had a
00:34:55
cocktail at dinner and gotten arrested
00:34:57
for driving but also people who
00:35:00
have some problems and have an ongoing
00:35:02
addiction problem and are unable to come
00:35:05
to the panel sober and when they do
00:35:07
we show
00:35:09
them what happens when they're driving
00:35:11
drunk we have officers there that and
00:35:14
our staff is trained to screen the
00:35:16
people as they come through for drug and
00:35:18
alcohol
00:35:19
intoxication and we have breathalyzers
00:35:22
that we run random checks on people as
00:35:25
well as anybody that we feel is under
00:35:26
the influence
00:35:28
so if someone is found to be under the
00:35:30
influence what happens then
00:35:32
they are taken aside from the group they
00:35:34
are given a preliminary breath test
00:35:37
through a
00:35:39
breathalyzer check
00:35:40
they if they do not pass they are taken
00:35:43
directly to washoe county jail and
00:35:46
arrested for another
00:35:48
alcohol related offense
00:35:50
i assume that most people that come to
00:35:52
the victim impact panel at least
00:35:56
act civilly but i assume that there are
00:35:58
times that you may
00:35:59
have people who are uncooperative what
00:36:02
happens then
00:36:03
unfortunately we see a tremendous amount
00:36:06
of the
00:36:08
participants that
00:36:10
are angry because they've been caught
00:36:12
and
00:36:12
take that out on the victims that are
00:36:14
speaking at the panel when we identify
00:36:17
an individual in the audience that has
00:36:20
acted inappropriately they are removed
00:36:22
from the panel
00:36:23
and they have to go back and do it again
00:36:25
correct if they are
00:36:27
removed from they're warned once if they
00:36:29
are removed from the panel because of
00:36:31
their actions
00:36:32
such as you know mouthing off sleeping
00:36:35
some of the other things that happen
00:36:37
they are removed they have to go back
00:36:39
before the judge explain
00:36:41
why they were removed from the panel and
00:36:43
then come back the following month
00:36:45
to apologize to the panel and view the
00:36:47
panel again
00:36:49
sir in the green shirt
00:36:51
i've watched you sleep through this
00:36:53
whole evening
00:36:56
i can't believe it
00:37:06
listen to dawn speaking and cordy
00:37:08
speaking of her daughter
00:37:12
and nothing of it is important to you
00:37:15
do you have children
00:37:19
i want to introduce dj to you
00:37:24
mostly
00:37:27
so you can get a glimpse of the kind of
00:37:29
person he was
00:37:32
and what he had to offer
00:37:35
the beautiful gift that he was to us
00:37:41
and
00:37:43
to give you some sense
00:37:46
of the change of life in the blink of an
00:37:48
eye
00:37:53
in this beautiful summer evening and
00:37:55
here we are in this room
00:37:58
and we're all here
00:38:00
it's a common thread between us
00:38:04
has to do with driving drinking drugging
00:38:08
life
00:38:09
your life
00:38:12
our lives
00:38:16
and for those of you who are parents
00:38:20
i would imagine that most of you have a
00:38:22
fairly good idea where your child is
00:38:24
this evening
00:38:30
and jim and i have an absolute
00:38:36
absolute where our child is
00:38:39
his body is our mother of sorrows
00:38:42
cemetery
00:38:44
on north virginia street
00:38:47
buried in his homecoming suit
00:38:53
and i pray
00:38:55
his soul is with
00:38:56
the good
00:38:58
lord and i feel that he is with us
00:39:05
all the time
00:39:09
but you know
00:39:11
it's just a thought
00:39:14
there's nothing physical there
00:39:17
and there's no voice
00:39:20
and the voice that we hear of dj
00:39:23
is on that video in his junior year
00:39:27
dj was killed april 2 1996 on tuesday
00:39:34
and until
00:39:36
probably about eight months ago nine
00:39:38
months ago
00:39:40
i haven't been able to watch that tv
00:39:42
interview
00:39:43
but i just wanted to hear his voice so
00:39:46
badly
00:39:53
deej was a
00:39:54
senior at bishop minogue high school
00:39:57
when
00:39:58
minogue was over this direction before
00:40:01
they moved out on south virginia
00:40:05
and he was very
00:40:06
academically involved in sports involved
00:40:11
and
00:40:15
involved just with humanity
00:40:19
he was
00:40:22
president of the national honors society
00:40:24
had been president of his classes
00:40:26
throughout high school
00:40:28
he attended boys state
00:40:30
a nevada high school scholar
00:40:35
he was quarterback and co-captain
00:40:38
of his football team this is dj in his
00:40:41
senior year
00:40:43
at his
00:40:45
football banquet
00:40:47
and this is the end of dj's life
00:40:52
the freeway not very far from here
00:40:58
tj was accepted to the university of
00:41:01
notre dame
00:41:02
and as the video said he just received
00:41:04
that acceptance letter
00:41:06
the evening before
00:41:09
so he didn't even get to think about it
00:41:11
for 24 hours
00:41:14
something he'd waited for for years
00:41:18
he also was accepted to the university
00:41:21
of washington in their honors program
00:41:24
university of colorado
00:41:26
and oxford university in england
00:41:29
and the acceptance to oxford dj did not
00:41:34
know about because that
00:41:36
letter
00:41:37
arrived two weeks after we buried our
00:41:39
boy
00:41:46
he was running track at reed high school
00:41:49
on saturday
00:41:53
and he was in a mortuary on tuesday
00:41:59
so what did this boy have to give
00:42:06
and what did this life have in store for
00:42:08
him
00:42:14
well basically
00:42:17
it's centered around a man sitting in a
00:42:20
bar
00:42:21
all afternoon
00:42:23
tuesday april 2nd while dj was sitting
00:42:26
in his class in school
00:42:29
and his killer
00:42:31
was happyers
00:42:35
and decided he was going to share
00:42:40
his
00:42:41
irresponsibility
00:42:43
with everybody else on the road that day
00:42:50
dj drove as you can see
00:42:53
bright yellow and blue jeep
00:42:56
and it was very heavy equipped it had
00:43:00
big roll bar and it was designed for
00:43:02
off-road so
00:43:03
we felt he was
00:43:05
safe in that car but we'd not ever
00:43:08
had to deal with a drunk driver
00:43:11
never thought about it wasn't part of
00:43:13
our life
00:43:15
certainly wasn't part of our son's life
00:43:21
so dj left our driveway tuesday morning
00:43:26
with his big grin
00:43:28
and we were so excited because that
00:43:31
evening we were going to chat all about
00:43:32
going away to school
00:43:34
to notre dame
00:43:37
4 45
00:43:38
pm
00:43:40
dj was on the freeway almost directly
00:43:43
across from here on i-80
00:43:46
heading east waiting to exit onto 395.
00:43:51
the traffic was stopped
00:43:53
and dj was the last in a line of cars
00:43:57
and i can just imagine
00:44:00
dude sitting there had his music on and
00:44:05
windows down and just thinking life is
00:44:08
so good and spring break is coming up
00:44:10
that next
00:44:12
weekend and
00:44:14
it's great
00:44:19
his killer
00:44:23
left his place of drinking
00:44:28
driving down the freeway
00:44:30
i-80 going east
00:44:33
cutting across the lanes of traffic
00:44:40
endangering every single person that he
00:44:44
met on the freeway that day
00:44:47
but encountered our son who was stopped
00:44:51
waiting to exit
00:44:53
smashed into the back of dj at 66 miles
00:44:56
an hour dj was zero
00:44:59
the force of the impact so great
00:45:02
dj blew up inside
00:45:05
in the blink of an eye
00:45:08
his precious
00:45:10
life was gone
00:45:14
and in the blink of an eye
00:45:16
quite frankly so is ours
00:45:24
dj's jeep had seatbelts in it that
00:45:28
airline pilots where where and
00:45:34
he just couldn't survive a bomb on the
00:45:37
freeway
00:45:41
so instead of
00:45:43
chatting about going away to school and
00:45:46
preparing for spring break
00:45:49
we're in a mortuary
00:45:52
and we're picking out a casket
00:45:56
and we're just trying to figure out how
00:45:58
to put one foot in front of the next and
00:46:00
how can this life be anything
00:46:03
without him
00:46:07
and i can tell you ladies and gentlemen
00:46:09
this is 12 years later
00:46:12
dj would have turned 30 this year in
00:46:14
february
00:46:18
and it does not get better
00:46:21
and time doesn't heal
00:46:24
you just learn to cover it up better
00:46:30
his older brother is going to have his
00:46:32
first baby in september and the first
00:46:34
thing i thought of when
00:46:36
our older son told us that they were
00:46:40
expecting
00:46:41
was
00:46:43
he isn't going to get to know dj as an
00:46:45
uncle
00:46:47
and that's the way you base everything
00:46:50
everything
00:46:52
there's pre-dj
00:46:54
and after dj
00:46:58
and the reason
00:47:00
i mean the reason that we're all in here
00:47:04
is incredibly ridiculous
00:47:08
he should be here just like we are
00:47:12
enjoying
00:47:13
these beautiful summer days
00:47:23
when deej left our driveway tuesday
00:47:26
morning
00:47:27
he had on his notre dame hat
00:47:31
i've kind of flattened it over the years
00:47:33
but
00:47:35
this was on his head
00:47:38
and this is all that came home to us
00:47:44
this is what's left of dj and his
00:47:46
beautiful memories and a lovely legacy
00:47:52
but he should be here
00:47:58
and if we're going to take space on this
00:48:01
earth
00:48:02
we darn well better do something good
00:48:04
with it instead of trying to ruin each
00:48:07
other
00:48:09
and it's such a simple solution
00:48:13
you just don't get behind the steering
00:48:15
wheel
00:48:16
the end
00:48:18
and everybody knows that it's not a
00:48:21
surprise and it's not new news
00:48:25
and the ones that suffer
00:48:28
a beautiful 18 year old boy
00:48:31
wonderful mama with two young children
00:48:35
don whose life has been severely altered
00:48:39
john
00:48:40
michelle
00:48:42
these aren't things you just read about
00:48:44
in a newspaper
00:48:45
this is this is all really real
00:48:50
really really real
00:48:54
so let's just do a good job together
00:49:00
and make sure
00:49:01
it doesn't happen again thank you
00:49:04
as far as the victim impact panel itself
00:49:07
are these made up all of volunteers or
00:49:09
are there any paid staff
00:49:11
there are a couple of paid staff that
00:49:14
oversee the project but the entire
00:49:17
makeup of our panel with the speakers
00:49:19
and the volunteers that are out front
00:49:22
completely voluntary all the deputies
00:49:24
volunteered their time
00:49:26
majority of the
00:49:28
highway patrol that we see that run the
00:49:31
actual
00:49:33
breath test van when we have it
00:49:35
available they are paid officers that
00:49:37
are on shift
00:49:40
and
00:49:41
now if someone wants to help support the
00:49:44
dui task force
00:49:46
who do they get in touch with
00:49:48
we are on the web we have a website
00:49:51
that can be searched
00:49:53
through any of the
00:49:55
search engines but the actual website is
00:49:57
the
00:49:59
nndtf
00:50:01
dot org
00:50:04
and
00:50:05
so i assume that they if people wanted
00:50:07
to make donations they could do that on
00:50:09
through that website correct
00:50:11
and there are contacts available on that
00:50:13
side and
00:50:15
i assume if they wanted to volunteer
00:50:16
also they could do that through the
00:50:18
website
00:50:19
yes you can make contact through there
00:50:21
there's a phone number
00:50:22
if we're not in the office you can leave
00:50:24
a message and somebody will return a
00:50:26
call and we'd love to hear from people
00:50:29
anybody that is interested in speaking
00:50:31
too
00:50:32
so does the
00:50:33
do you have an office then you mentioned
00:50:35
that
00:50:36
we have an office here in town but it is
00:50:38
not staffed because it is a
00:50:40
volunteer organization
00:50:42
so it is a message machine and
00:50:46
non-staffed office
00:50:48
now
00:50:49
you know if a person has
00:50:51
for example a friend or a family member
00:50:54
that has a problem with
00:50:56
alcohol and or drugs
00:50:59
i mean who do you recommend they go to
00:51:01
to get some help as far as that is
00:51:03
concerned there are several
00:51:04
organizations that through our side with
00:51:08
victims
00:51:10
can get some help matt is a wonderful
00:51:13
organization's mother's against drunk
00:51:14
driving on their website they have links
00:51:17
to several different counseling and
00:51:19
self-help agencies the state also offers
00:51:22
on their website a group called the
00:51:25
national commission against drunk
00:51:27
driving
00:51:28
and they have a tremendous amount of
00:51:30
resources also um that is on the state
00:51:33
website state of nevada website
00:51:36
you can also contact local counseling
00:51:39
through the yellow pages
00:51:41
for drug and alcohol
00:51:43
and
00:51:45
you know
00:51:47
do you have any recommendations to
00:51:49
anyone who's thinking about
00:51:51
you know i can drive my vehicle i've
00:51:53
only had a couple of drinks i'm i'm able
00:51:56
to drive
00:51:58
i love that story and we hear it every
00:51:59
single month and one of the points that
00:52:02
i drive home when i speak at the panel
00:52:04
is
00:52:05
the woman that hit my wife and i
00:52:08
had one glass of wine three hours
00:52:10
earlier
00:52:11
so
00:52:13
we have the laws in place that say zero
00:52:17
you know the legal limit is .08 but
00:52:20
if you're going to go out and have a
00:52:21
cocktail
00:52:22
don't drive
00:52:25
and you know that is something i think
00:52:27
we emphasized in the last show where we
00:52:29
talked about
00:52:30
getting the dui the effects on your
00:52:32
insurance alone the costs
00:52:35
that you will pay
00:52:37
you could have driven a limousine many
00:52:39
times from the bar or from the
00:52:41
restaurant back home for the cost to pay
00:52:44
just any insurance alone and that and
00:52:46
that's the easy part when you compare it
00:52:49
to the fact of like what has happened to
00:52:51
you
00:52:52
and to others as a result of drunk
00:52:54
drivers i mean that's something that you
00:52:57
can never get back that part of your
00:53:00
life
00:53:00
you know 27 surgeries your wife nine
00:53:03
i mean those are things like the time
00:53:06
that you've had to spend the pain you've
00:53:08
had to suffer can never come back and
00:53:10
the message out there to everyone is
00:53:12
don't drink and drive let someone be a
00:53:14
designated driver or take the cab take
00:53:16
the limo take something else but just
00:53:18
don't drink and drive absolutely and
00:53:21
when you talk about the cost of it the
00:53:23
average cost of a first time dui is five
00:53:26
to seven thousand dollars
00:53:29
the average cost of a cab ride is 40. so
00:53:32
it's
00:53:32
quite a difference and
00:53:36
there are so many programs that are out
00:53:38
there with
00:53:39
free bus rides and you know the cab
00:53:41
companies helping out and the tipsy toe
00:53:43
program there's just no excuse for
00:53:46
driving
00:53:47
intoxicated
00:53:48
what is the tipsy toe program i've never
00:53:50
heard of that one tipsy toe program is a
00:53:53
program that is not very well known and
00:53:55
several of the tow companies have gotten
00:53:57
together to discuss
00:53:59
ways that they could help and
00:54:02
they
00:54:03
will come out and take you and your car
00:54:06
home
00:54:07
no law enforcement no dui
00:54:10
you call them they come pick you up and
00:54:11
they take you home
00:54:13
well that's good
00:54:14
are they listed somewhere in the phone
00:54:16
book or is it something how do you find
00:54:18
out about that i've like i said that's
00:54:19
something new to me i'm trying to get
00:54:22
the actual list of who's involved in it
00:54:24
but call the tow companies and ask them
00:54:26
if they are participants in the tipsy
00:54:28
toe program
00:54:29
and
00:54:30
i assume you're looking forward to
00:54:33
moving to the lawler events center in
00:54:34
light of the fact that
00:54:36
you know the bad part of that is is that
00:54:39
you have to move at all because there
00:54:41
isn't enough room to accommodate anybody
00:54:43
but
00:54:44
at least
00:54:45
the good part is that you'll be able to
00:54:47
you won't have to have special sessions
00:54:49
because you'll have enough room to
00:54:51
accommodate everybody and i think that's
00:54:53
the good and bad of the situation
00:54:55
correct our first panel in october of
00:54:57
1990 had 20 people in it and that
00:55:00
included
00:55:01
all of the media and all of the
00:55:03
convicted offenders and now we are
00:55:05
turning so many people away
00:55:08
it it's staggering to see the amount of
00:55:10
increase just in the last four years
00:55:12
that i've been on the panel how many
00:55:14
more people we're seeing and how much of
00:55:16
an impact
00:55:18
our extra efforts are having on the
00:55:20
community
00:55:21
and i'm not looking forward to moving to
00:55:23
to unr but unfortunately that's where we
00:55:26
are at at this point
00:55:28
we have such an increase in
00:55:31
the epidemic of driving under the
00:55:32
influence that we have to have a larger
00:55:34
venue
00:55:35
so hopefully we can get in there and
00:55:37
relieve a little bit of the strand on
00:55:38
our volunteers so that we don't have to
00:55:40
do two or three panels per month
00:55:42
and that's good so there have been times
00:55:44
then you had to actually do that many
00:55:46
three
00:55:47
i we also do a juvenile panel so
00:55:50
then that's done quarterly so if we have
00:55:53
the regular panel and then an overflow
00:55:55
the following week and the juvenile
00:55:57
panel we have three panels i didn't
00:55:59
realize there was a juvenile panel
00:56:01
because the city attorney's office
00:56:03
doesn't deal with juvenile crimes so
00:56:05
there is one then for
00:56:06
those who are under the age of 18.
00:56:09
correct it is done held at the jan evans
00:56:11
juvenile facility and done quarterly
00:56:15
and
00:56:16
how many
00:56:17
juveniles do you see at it at a typical
00:56:20
victim impact panel
00:56:21
average is probably 16
00:56:24
for both boys and girls so total of
00:56:27
about 30 to 35.
00:56:30
and these are all
00:56:32
juveniles under the age of 18. correct
00:56:35
and because once you're 18 you're in the
00:56:37
adult system even if you're still in
00:56:39
high school and you you're handled
00:56:41
through the adult courts correct so that
00:56:44
should be a concern to the community
00:56:46
just even thinking that quarterly you
00:56:48
have that many
00:56:50
juveniles get caught drinking and
00:56:52
driving that doesn't even count the
00:56:54
adults between 18 and 21 who are not
00:56:57
supposed to drink
00:56:58
so absolutely and
00:57:01
some of the things that that we're
00:57:02
seeing are just
00:57:03
staggering when you see the age of the
00:57:06
offenders
00:57:08
this is a
00:57:10
unfortunate uh offense that covers all
00:57:13
the boundaries but we're seeing more and
00:57:15
more young people college kids seem to
00:57:18
be the biggest number in our audience
00:57:21
well
00:57:21
mr hartman i want to thank you for
00:57:23
participating in this and telling us
00:57:25
your story and telling us about the
00:57:27
victim impact panel
00:57:29
i hope that if
00:57:30
anything comes out of this the thing
00:57:32
that will come out of this is that
00:57:34
people will
00:57:35
think about drinking and driving again
00:57:38
take the cab take the limo home
00:57:40
have a designated driver learn something
00:57:43
from
00:57:44
the pain that you and your wife have had
00:57:46
to suffer and others have had to suffer
00:57:48
as a result of drunk drivers i hope
00:57:50
that's the message that will come out of
00:57:52
this and i thank everybody who's watched
00:57:54
reno periscope and i hope that this has
00:57:57
been informational to you thank you
