A packed courtroom and over-crowded parking lot caused the Judge in a Chester County Court to ask why a DUI trial was so popular, only to learn that the man in front of him that admitted his guilt in a Thanksgiving day car accident had a history of a more severe alcohol related crime, and so did members of his immediate family, as reported by the Unionville Times.
Spectators waited over five hours to hear S.O. Jr. admit to driving his Cadillac Esplanade across a lawn on Westtown Road before crashing into a garage.
Marilyn Seide, the Chester County Assistant District Attorney, told Judge William P. Mahon that the reason for the large attendance in his courtroom was because this particular offender had a record: S.O. Jr. and his family began garnering public attention, and court time, beginning on the first of September of 2006.
At that time S.O. Jr. had shot and killed a friend and classmate during an unchaperoned drinking party in his family's home in Willistown Township. S.O. was charged as an adult in the murder, however, his attorney Vincent P. DiFabio argued that he belonged in juvenile court.
S.O. Jr. completed two residential treatment programs and was released in 2009.
During the police investigation, and a search of the family home, S.O. Jr.'s father, S.O. Sr., faced a federal firearms conviction. After serving 18 months in jail, S.O. Sr., an undocumented immigrant, was deported to Ireland.
Prior to serving jail time, S.O. Sr. owned a pub in Delaware County.
Also serving time for a DUI offense is S.O. Jr.'s sister, R.O., 26. R.O. admitted to a September 2008 DUI that caused the death of P.W.W., a 63 year-old grandmother from Brimfield, Mass.
One other member of S.O. Jr.'s family, the youngest of five siblings, has been cited for underage drinking.
Though the family's history has been much cause of public concern, DiFabio said that his client is facing "a first-offense DUI" which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 72 hours of jail time.
S.O. Jr.'s blood alcohol level, at over three times the legal limit to drive, registered at 0.28 percent after the accident.
Seide is seeking the maximum penalty allowed: six months of prison time. She claims that the defendant, on bail for disorderly conduct in Delaware County at the time of the DUI, did enough damage to the garage door that it totaled one of the two cars inside.
The reason the audience waited so long was allegedly due to S.O. Jr. and his mother failing to locate a parking space in time. The DUI case had to be delayed to accommodate a jury selection, for another case, that had been also scheduled that morning.
One of the spectators that waited for hours, according to Seide, was the mother of the boy S.O. Jr. had shot and killed in 2006.
Contact a DUI attorney to defend you for any charges relating to DUI, DWI, OUI or OWI. Only a qualified and experienced attorney, in matters of DUI, can assist you properly and confidently.