Man Sentenced to Maximum Sentence of Three Years and Eight Months Prison For Sixth DUI Conviction

David Raymond Somers, 59 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced on May 8, 2018 to 3 years and 8 months in state prison, the maximum allowed by law, for a felony charge of Driving Under the Influence. Somers now has 6 prior convictions for Driving Under the Influence, 2 of which were also felony offenses.

The charges resulted from a December 4, 2017 investigation by the Santa Rosa Police Department. On that date officers were dispatched to the Security Public Storage facility on Hopper Avenue after Somers hit the front gate of the business with his van while entering the property. A subsequent DUI investigation revealed that Somers appeared to be impaired. After being arrested he provided two breath samples which showed he was driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.32% and 0.31%, approximately four times the legal limit in California.

Currently, the California Vehicle Code provides for a maximum sentence of only 3 years for a felony DUI offense, regardless of how many prior DUI convictions an offender has. However, because Somers was already on probation for a felony DUI offense, the law permitted the judge, the Honorable Christopher Honigsberg, to add an additional 8 months to the 3 year sentence. The District Attorney’s office and the probation department urged him to do just that in order to reach the 3 year 8 month sentence.

District Attorney Ravitch stated, “Driving while impaired presents a serious danger to others on the roadway and this defendant continues to disregard that danger in a substantial way. The court rightfully imposed a sentence that fits his criminal conduct."

The case was prosecuted by DDA Scott Uemura of the District Attorney’s Vertical DUI Unit. Funding for this specialized prosecution unit was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.