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Victims needed to share stories of drunken driving tragedies

Impact panel needs volunteers who have lost loved ones to DUI

Help wanted: Victims of drunken drivers willing to share their stories of loss and grief with DUI offenders.

The pay isn’t great – in fact, there’s none – but the payoff can be life-changing.

The La Plata County Sheriff’s Office is seeking volunteers who can share their stories as part of a victim-impact panel, which aims to put a human face on the potential consequences of drunken driving.

The panel has existed about 15 years in La Plata County, but it is on the verge of going away if the Sheriff’s Office can’t find residents who have lost loved ones and who are willing to share their stories, said Sgt. Barrett Potthoff.

The panel meets every other month at the La Plata County Courthouse. Volunteers are asked to speak for as little as five minutes or up to an hour while showing pictures and recounting the events that killed their loved ones.

The panels usually consist of 40-80 people who have pleaded guilty to a first or second drunken driving offense.

It’s not meant to shame them; rather, it’s meant to humanize the effect drunken driving has on someone’s sister, brother, children, parents or other family members, said La Plata County Judge Martha Minot, who handles most DUI cases in the county.

“Speakers that we’ve had in the past are never blaming the defendants or the drunk drivers; it’s really more about the pain the victim feels,” Minot said. “It’s just trying to make that human connection of when people get hurt, peripheral people suffer.

“So much of the criminal justice system is shaming and blaming; defendants get that a lot, and it just puts up a barrier. ... This is not that,” she said, adding, “It takes a strong person to be able to do it.”

Potthoff said he’s willing to talk to anyone interested in volunteering about what’s involved and gauge their suitability for speaking. He hopes offenders learn drunken driving can end badly, and if it does, it has ripple effects.

“DUI is one of those crimes that is totally preventable, and it’s a tragedy every time it happens,” he said. “If one person decides they don’t want to drink and drive anymore due to a victim-impact panel, we’ve won a victory.”

Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Potthoff by emailing Barrett.Potthoff@co.laplata.co.us.

shane@durangoherald.com



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