Wednesday, June 30, 1999
Allen takes TV tack on DUI bill
Chart-at-Capitol show aims to help bill that needs little
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — It's rare to see Cincinnati TV stations cover state government, so several lawmakers wondered what the fuss was when two camera crews showed up Tuesday at the Statehouse.
Then Mike Allen, the Hamilton County prosecutor, stood up to urge a House committee to approve tougher drunken-driving legislation as two aides placed a TV-friendly chart on an easel nearby.
Although the cameras likely won't be around when lawmakers act this fall on the bill Mr. Allen is promoting, his appearance made the issue newsworthy for at least a day.
The proposal would allow judges to sentence defendants with a prior felony conviction for drunken driving to five years in prison — 31/2 years more than the current law allows.
“These people just have to be taken off the street before they kill somebody,” Mr. Allen told the House Criminal Law Committee. “It's for their own protection and for the protection of others.”
As lawmakers quizzed him, Mr. Allen repeatedly referred to a chart highlighting a Cincinnati man's 14 drunken driving convictions during the past 25 years.
Gregory Roy, who was arrested again in April, is one of seven people convicted of felony drunken driving last year in Hamilton County who would have been eligible for stiffer penalties under provisions of the bill.
After an arrest in 1997, prosecutors say, Mr. Roy offered police an explanation for his erratic driving. “I'm probably still drunk from last night,” police say he told them at 8:30 a.m. ""I've only had a six-pack this morning.”
The toughest sentence he can face this time is 18 months.
“The only thing you can do with guys like this is lock them up,” Mr. Allen said.
Lawmakers didn't really need to hear from Mr. Allen. With the backing of Senate President Richard Finan, R-Evendale, the bill strengthening penalties for drunken driving is breez ing through the General Assembly.
But just five months into the job, Mr. Allen is proving himself to be just as media-savvy as the man he replaced as county prosecutor, Joe Deters, now the state treasurer.
Mr. Deters frequently attracted Cincinnati TV stations to follow him to Columbus for testimony on various tough-on-crime bills. He often combined his appearances with meetings that laid the groundwork for his successful statewide campaign last fall.
Asked whether he was employing the same strategy, Mr. Allen laughed and changed the subject to Mr. Deters. “He was pretty good at that, wasn't he?” said Mr. Allen, former chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party.
Then he straightened his tie and prepared for a TV interview in the hallway outside the committee room.
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