I'm sick of this goddam criminal coddling.
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THIBODAUX -- A man who caused the drunk-driving wreck that end his daughter and injured his son will serve the next 20 years behind bars for the crime, a Lafourche Parish judge ruled.
James Thomas, 54, a former Grand Isle resident who had been living in Mississippi, was convicted of vehicular homicide in December. He learned his fate Thursday during a sentencing hearing held in Judge Bruce Simpson's
courtroom.
Thomas also learned that there's a chance he'll spend the rest of his life in prison if he is convicted under the habitual offender bill that Lafourche Parish District Attorney Cam Morvant filed against him. Thomas has been
arrested for DWI at least 10 times but authorities think the total is much higher.
Morvant said, "I do not think that Mr. Thomas is remorseful or understands his crime. To us Mr. Thomas deserves the maximum sentence that he can get."
Thomas' daughter, 9-year-old Jade Thomas, was end in the Feb. 14, 2004 crash that happened when Thomas' truck swerved off the road and landed upside down as he was driving toward Grand Isle on La. 1 in Lafourche Parish.
Expert witnesses who testified at Thomas' trial said Jade Thomas' neck was broken on impact. Thomas' 8-year-old son Jacob, who told the jury that his father had made a special trip for a bottle of vodka that night, was also a pbuttenger.
Thomas' blood-alcohol level at the time of the wreck was 0.24, three times the legal limit.
The wreck was the culmination of a long history of run-ins with the law for Thomas, many of which were alcohol-related. And outcry over how multiple DWIs could have slipped through the legal system resulted in a state law that establishes a database so various jurisdictions can track such cases.
Thomas entered a not-guilty plea to habitual offender charge. The bill is filed against someone who has prior felonies because it increases the sentence. Basically, the more felony convictions a person has, the more jail time he may face.
Simpson explained why he imposed a 20-year sentence, the maximum penalty Thomas could have received under the law.
"It's a tragedy that a young girl died as a result of your actions. It's a tragedy because that girl relied upon you for her safety," he said. "You have taken away from that child the chance to experience the things that you have experienced."
As Thomas stood before the court, Simpson read a long list of crimes Thomas has committed: seven DWI convictions in Texas, Georgia and Louisiana, including a 2002 felony conviction in Ascension Parish; three felonies in Texas and one in Louisiana, including theft and felony criminal damage to property.
"Your criminal history proves beyond any doubt that you are a serious threat to anyone who operates a motor vehicle, and you represent a serious threat to the general public," the judge said.
Thomas declined to speak on his own behalf prior to sentencing and he reacted angrily after hearing the judge's decision.
He blamed the crash that took his daughter's life on a lack of signs notifying motorists that construction was being done on La. 1.
"The only reason I came to this trial was to prove that. It was the highway department's fault for not putting up a traffic-control device," he said. "It's all cool, that's all I got to say."
Thomas must stand trial on a charge of fourth-offense DWI. Pre-trial proceedings for that charge and a hearing on the habitual-offender bill will take place at 1:30 p.m. March 8.
