As bill to toughen DWI punishment nears passage, a guilty plea in case that led to bill
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The driver charged in a crash that killed two people and injured nine others at a St. Louis Park restaurant last year entered a guilty plea in Hennepin County District Court on Wednesday.
At a hearing this morning, 56-year-old Steven Frane Bailey pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree murder and three counts of criminal vehicular operation causing great bodily harm.
Under terms of a plea deal, Bailey will serve up to 30 years in prison. He had been set to go to trial next week; instead, sentencing is now scheduled for July 28.
Prosecutors said Bailey had a blood alcohol level more than four times the legal limit when he crashed into the patio at Park Tavern.
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His plea comes as the state Legislature, in response to that crash, is looking to amp up punishments for people who have multiple DWIs. Final passage could happen as soon as this week.
Around 8 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2024, Bailey drove his car into the patio of the St. Louis Park Tavern.
Bailey plowed into a crowd gathered outside, which included a group of hospital employees and restaurant workers. Kristina Folkerts, who worked at the Tavern, and Gabe Harvey, a healthcare specialist at Methodist Hospital, were killed.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said her office will seek the maximum prison term.
"Mr. Bailey's choices that day scarred many lives and affected an entire community,” she said. “Alcoholism is a disease. Drinking and driving is not. Had he made different choices, Gabe and Kristina would still be here with their loved ones.”
For Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, the incident caused him to take action. And it was personal.
"I lived across the street, ordered pizza there a lot and hung out there a bit. It's really a community institution,” he told MPR News shortly after the crash. “A lot of community people go there on a regular basis to bowl and relax. And when it's nice out, enjoy the nice weather on the patio."
Latz said at the time he was intent on reducing the probability of something like it happening again.
"There's always room for strengthening penalties if we think it makes sense from a broader public safety standpoint,” he said.
In this case, the driver, Bailey, had five prior DWIs.
His plea heads off a trial that was due to start next week on more than a dozen criminal vehicular operation charges.
Bailey previously had an interlock device in his vehicle — a device that requires a clean breathalyzer to start a vehicle. When that was in place, he had no violations. But he no longer had the device in his vehicle when the crash happened.
Since 2011, the state has had an ignition interlock device program as an option for people who want to drive after DWIs. It’s where Latz and other legislators saw an opportunity.
A Legislative Auditor's report released earlier this year found that while people are enrolled in an interlock device program, about 2.6 percent of individuals re-offended. But after that device is taken out of their vehicle, about 8.5 percent re-offended — nearly 11 percent of offenders who never get interlock reoffend.
The auditor report says those numbers reflect national studies that show once an interlock device is out of a vehicle rates move back up to pre-interlock rates.
The public safety aspect of re-offense rates while people have interlock devices led Latz and his colleague Rep. Larry Kraft, DFL-St. Louis Park, to propose a bill to increase the amount of time re-offenders would be required to have the devices.
“It's a very, very effective safety device on our roads,” Latz said Wednesday of the interlock technology as he presented his bill to the Senate for a vote. “It's in use across the country. The evidence is quite clear on that.”
Kraft and Latz’s legislation sets standard lengths for offenders to have interlock devices in their vehicles after conviction, from two years for people with one prior DWI, six years if a person has two prior incidents and 10 years if they've had three or more prior DWIs. It sets even stricter standards for those who have injured someone else while driving under the influence.
Prior offenses could compound penalties for longer — a lookback period would go from 10 to 20 years. The length of a license revocation for people with multiple DWIs would get doubled.
Even as legislative leaders grind through details on a new state budget -- their main task this year — the DWI effort is operating on a separate track. It stands a good chance of becoming law soon.
The House debated it last week. Kraft thanked the families, friends and organizations of those affected. He said a law cannot change everything, but he hopes it will help make roads safer.
"Most people who are caught driving drunk have done it before, some data suggests as many as 80 times,” he said. “So I do ask, if anyone is listening to this, please think twice about it. It caused such a devastating hole in my community. Don't think that boy, ‘I can just drive a short period or do it this once.’ It can cause so much pain."
Kraft urged his House colleagues to vote for the bill. It passed 123 to 5.
The Senate unanimously passed a version of the bill with amendments Wednesday. The bill would head to a conference committee unless the House backs the Senate version beforehand.