
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 24, 1994                   TAG: 9402240119
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MAN'S 2ND DUI CHARGE IS PROBATION VIOLATION

A Roanoke man who spent 4 1/2 months in jail for killing his best friend by driving drunk was back in court Wednesday as a result of a second DUI charge.

Roger Lee Israel was sentenced to two years in prison for violating his probation.

Israel, 24, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 1991. He admitted that he was driving drunk - and about 100 mph - when his car ran off an Orange Avenue embankment, killing his passenger and best friend, David Lee Hopkins.

At the time, Israel received five years in prison with all but nine months suspended. He was released from jail after serving half the sentence.

In October, he was charged with driving under the influence in Salem and later was convicted.

"The analogy I draw is that back in 1991, you put two bullets in a gun, twirled the cylinder, and you killed somebody," Judge Roy Willett told Israel.

"You did the same thing back in October, and just by blind luck, you didn't kill anyone."

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Dennis Nagel had asked that the remaining four years and three months be imposed Wednesday, arguing that Israel's DUI conviction was the worst possible probation violation.

"It's clear that the death of someone else was not enough to prevent him from driving again under the influence," Nagel said.

But Assistant Public Defender Jackie Talevi had asked for no more than six months on work release, arguing that her client grew up in a dysfunctional, alcoholic family and had been punished enough by the death of his best friend.

by CNB