Man so drunk field sobriety tests were ‘too dangerous’ sentenced to life in prison for repeated DWI convictions

A 71-year-old man in Texas with a dangerous habit of getting behind the wheel while drunk will likely spend the rest of his days behind bars after being convicted of driving while intoxicated for the sixth time.

A jury in Comal County last month ordered Joseph Haren to serve a sentence of life in a state correctional facility for his repeated offenses, authorities announced. Under state law, an individual convicted of three or more DWI offenses and two prior prison sentences from those offenses is subject to 25 years to life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

According to a news release from the Comal County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, police on Sept. 8, 2022, received multiple 911 calls about an elderly man matching Haren’s description who had “tailed multiple vehicles on the highway, rear-ended a vehicle and left behind his front license plate after driving away, and crashed into a dumpster.” Authorities said Haren’s driving caused well over $$1,000 in damage.

“Surveillance video not only captured the defendant driving into the dumpster, destroying the front end of his car, but also the defendant driving away from the scene with a badly damaged vehicle,” the release states. “Police located the defendant at an apartment complex several yards away from the dumpster. The defendant was highly intoxicated and showed signs of slurred speech, swaying, and had an odor of alcohol coming from his person.”

Police said they tried to conduct a field sobriety test on Haren, but he was so drunk that officers on the scene felt it was “too dangerous to continue” and decided on a blood draw test. Haren’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.231, which is nearly three times the legal limit.

Haren was set to go to trial on Oct. 21 before he pleaded guilty to the offense as well as three enhancement paragraphs admitting he had been to prison as the result of two previous DWI convictions. Evidence was then presented to jurors for the purpose of deciding Haren’s sentence.

“The jury heard evidence from the independent witnesses who saw the defendant’s driving, they saw the surveillance video of the collision with the dumpster, and they saw police interactions with the defendant, which were shown on the officer’s body worn cameras,” prosecutors wrote in the release. “The jury also saw all the previous judgments where the defendant was found guilty of driving while intoxicated, which included three prior crashes as well as prior probation terms that the defendant was ordered to complete.”

Prosecutors also noted that while Haren had multiple convictions for driving a car while intoxicated, he had also been convicted for driving a motorcycle while intoxicated and driving a boat while intoxicated.

Haren’s defense attorney asked the jury to remember that the elderly man’s life was in their hands and not to let him die in prison, the release states.

During closing arguments, prosecutors implored jurors to keep in mind that “the lives of all the people across the State of Texas were in their hands” because Haren had been a menace across the Lone Star State “and had not stopped for decades,” making him an explicit threat to anyone on public roads.

Jurors also assessed a deadly weapons finding, deciding that Haren used his vehicle “in a manner that was capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.” That means Haren will not be eligible for parole until he serves at least 30 years in prison.

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