BOISE -- There has been strong reaction to a story about a Boise man convicted of his 14th DUI. Many are asking, “How is it that someone with 14 DUIs is still behind the wheel?”
After two hours of deliberation on Tuesday, an Ada County jury found 55-year-old Terry Ash guilty of his 14th DUI.
Shelly Armstrong, the Ada County prosecutor handling the case, explained to us his history.
She said Ash's first DUI came 36 years ago in 1976. By 1993, he had eight DUIs. Each one of those were misdemeanors.
It was around that time, the mid 1990s, when DUI laws were changing.
In 1995, Ash received his first felony DUI. Armstrong says he was sent to a boot camp for DUI offenders.
In 1996, he got two more DUIs, one in Ada County and another one in Canyon County. The judge in Ada County sentenced Ash to five years in prison. He was eligible for parole after two years.
Canyon County sentenced him to five years in prison. He was eligible for parole after two and a half years. He served those terms concurrently for a total of two and a half years in prison. His probation for those DUIs ended in 2001.
In 2002, he got his 12th DUI, landing Ash in prison for another three years.
In 2005, Ash received his 13th DUI conviction, and spent five years in prison.
Ash’s 14th DUI happened on Sept. 4, 2011, when police arrested him for crashing his car near Kuna. Four hours after the crash, officers recorded his blood alcohol content at 0.13.
In all, Ash served roughly ten and a half years in prison for his last five DUIs.
Ash's attorney, Brian Boyle, says he is considering appeal options, but couldn't go into more details because of the appeal process.
We contacted prosecutors and attorneys, but no one would go on camera to explain how someone can get 14 DUIs.
Ash is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 22. Because of a repeat offender enhancement on the DUI charge, Ash faces up to life in prison for his latest DUI conviction.
