A Saline County Division Judge sentenced a Bryant man recently to 14 years under a new Arkansas law concerning DWI convictions.
Gregory Holmes, age 51, of Bryant, pleaded guilty to “Driving While Intoxicated” on November 5, 2021. Division 2 Judge Josh Farmer sentenced Holmes to serve 168 months in the Arkansas Department of Correction. Holmes has a criminal history of driving while intoxicated offenses.
On July 30, 2021, Officers Tierra Coffey and Matthew Kuntz initiated a traffic stop on a GMC Sierra driven by Mr. Holmes at the McDonalds on Military Road. According to a statement from the Saline County Prosecutor’s Office, officers observed that Mr. Holmes spoke with slurred speech and smelled of intoxicants. Holmes also had difficulty walking and standing on his own. After field sobriety tests were conducted, he was arrested.
Officers sought and were granted a blood draw search warrant after Holmes refused chemical testing. The results confirmed that his blood alcohol content was .22 – well above the legal limit of .08.
On July 28, 2021, the legislature passed a new law for DWI offenses that extended the look back period for DWI convictions.
Previously, a person would face a felony charge of DWI if there were 4 convictions within a 5-year period, or if there were 6 convictions within a 10-year period. The new law extends that time frame to 4 convictions within a 10-year period and 6 convictions within a 20-year period.
Under this new law, Mr. Holmes’ conviction was recognized as a DWI-10th offense. He was represented by David Parker.
In a statement on Wednesday, Prosecuting Attorney Chris Walton said, “Sheriff Rodney Wright and other Saline County law enforcement officials, along with deputies in my office, realized that under the old law, too many repeat DWI offenders were being treated as first time offenders even after multiple DWI convictions. That wasn’t right.”
Walton said that he and Sheriff Wright contacted State Senator Kim Hammer and State Representative Lanny Fite to change the law. “We worked together as a team to amend the statute. The results were immediate.”
Within a week of the law being strengthened, Gregory Holmes was arrested with his blood alcohol level almost three times the legal limit. “He also had bottle of Vodka in his car,” stated Walton. “Clearly, he was a danger to the community that night.”
Walton added a note of thanks to all that helped pass the new law, including Judge Ken Casady. “Many years ago when he was the prosecutor, he started to make this law tougher. He deserves a lot of credit for being the initial catalyst of change.” Walton also expressed appreciation to the Benton Police Department “for arresting a dangerous individual that evening and for Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kolby Harper’s hard work regarding this plea.”
