HARRISBURG, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed legislation this week intended to toughen up penalties for repeat DUI offenders.
The bill, called Deana's Law, is named for Deana Eckman, a Delaware County woman who was killed by David Strowhouer in 2019, on what would be his sixth conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol. The House passed the bill with a 168-32 vote.
"The legislation will not affect the person who makes the mistake of driving after an extra beer or a glass of wine. It’s targeted to high BAC, repeat DUI offenders who intentionally and willfully get behind the wheel time and time again," said Delaware County Republican state Rep. Chris Quinn. "Had Deana's killer been sentenced consecutively, Deana would be alive today."
Strowhouer would have been in prison based on sentencing guidelines, but he was sentenced for his fourth and fifth DUIs at the same time. Rather than run those sentences back to back, the judge allowed him to serve them at the same time.
Quinn's bill would stiffen DUI penalties for a third DUI or more, and the DUI sentences would have to be consecutive, not concurrent.
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However, Democratic state Rep. Greg Vitali expressed concerns.
"The reality is we elect judges, we elect judges to do justice within the parameters we give them. They should be able to look at the individual facts and circumstances of each person who comes before them charged with a crime," he said.
"You want to talk about judicial discretion?" responded Republican state Rep. Craig Williams. "Here's an idea. A defendant has discretion over whether or not he's going to get a DUI for the fifth time. There's discretion to get behind the wheel driving drunk and kill somebody at 80 miles an hour."
A previous version of the bill was hung up last session because of amendments regarding marijuana. This version now heads to the state Senate.