JEFFERSON CITY – Emotional testimony by a victim of a drunk driver brought the Senate Judiciary Committee to a standstill, ending the usual side conversations and shuffling.

“I have overcome many, many things in my life, but it is the criminal justice system, when I went through it, was by far the most tragic thing that I went through,” Phaera Marriot said.

Marriot was 22 years old when a drunk driver, with a 0.18 blood alcohol content, struck her car head on May 11, 1996.

Her left femur, both ankles, both sides of her pelvis, four ribs and both bones in her right forearm were broken. Her liver was lacerated, and her gall bladder, appendix, spleen and part of her small intestine were removed.

Due to the impact of the crash, a valve was torn away from her heart. During surgery to repair her heart, Marriot began bleeding to death so surgeons had so shut off the blood supply to her lower extremities, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.

The drunk driver attempted to flee the accident but was caught by a passersby.

“As we went through the criminal justice system, I thought this would be a pretty open and shut case,” Marriot said. “He was drinking, he was driving, and I am paralyzed.”

The driver was sentenced to seven years in state prison. Because drunken driving offences are considered non-violent, he was able to petition the circuit court judge for and receive an early release after serving only 120 days.

Marriot spent 124 days in the hospital. She only found out the drunk driver was released early when she saw him at a grocery store.

Sen. Kevin Engler (R-Farmington) presented Senate Bill 194, a bill to extend victim notification to victims of non-violent crime.

Under the proposed legislation, victims could request in writing their desire to be notified of all actions taking place on their case, including at the circuit court level.

James Karr, a representative from the State Attorney’s General, appeared to support Engler’s bill.

The Missouri state Supreme Court handed down an opinion on “Matthews versus The Honorable Michael Maloney”, a related case, on Feb. 15, Karr said.

Lonnie Matthews pled guilty to a class D felony for causing injury while driving under the influence to a woman. Matthews was sentenced to five years in prison.

Matthews filled for a “petition of release” at the circuit court pursuant to section 558.016.8, RSMo, alleging his offense was a non-violent offense, and because he had

served more than 120 days, he was eligible for release.

“The court looked at definitions of violent offender as it appears in chapter 271 (RSMo) and applied it to the provision 558.016,” Karr said.

The Supreme Court found Matthews is eligible to seek release from custody.

Angela Hirsch, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Missouri and president of MOVA, Missouri’s victim assistance network, also appeared to support the bill.

Victims are put in a system very confusing for them, and they believe once the offender is convicted, the offender will go to the state penitentiary system, Hirsch said.

Five months later, after a conviction resulting in a sentence of five years, a victim may see the offender at the store, Hirsch said.

“It’s a whole revictimization for those victims of crime,” Hirsch said.