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Fields rearrested for DWI after commutation by governor Thursday, Apr 13, 2006 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving criticized Gov. Mike Huckabee on Wednesday after a four-time DWI offender to whom the governor granted executive clemency two years ago recently pleaded guilty to driving drunk. Eugene Fields, 67, of Fort Smith was arrested April 4 in Barling and charged with DWI and refusing to take a blood alcohol breath test. He pleaded guilty Friday to DWI in Barling District Court. He was fined $300 and ordered to pay $300 in court costs, and the other charge was dismissed, Clerk Cindy Walker said. MADD Executive Director Teresa Belew said Wednesday that Huckabee should never have allowed Fields to go free. "I can say many, many good things about the governor's policies on alcohol but on this we disagree, the early release of a repeat offender who has already had a reduced sentence," Belew said. Huckabee said he was disappointed with Fields' actions. "Mr. Fields has broken all trust and deserves the full penalty the law allows," the governor said. "Not everyone does right, but when a person fails a second chance he forfeits a future one." Huckabee commuted Fields' six year prison sentence for sixth-offense DWI in April 2004, making Fields immediately eligible. Fields was released because of jail overcrowding despite having served just a year in prison. He had been granted parole and was awaiting a parole date when the commutation order was issued. Crawford County Prosecutor Marc McCune, who prosecuted Fields on the original conviction in 2003, said Wednesday he was not surprised by the man's arrest. McCune, who opposed the governor's decision two years ago, said he was still disappointed in the governor's actions. "It was a wrong decision," McCune said. "I think several groups, including MADD, opposed it, and what really concerned me was the governor saying at the time that very few or no people go to prison for DWI. That's just not true." In 2004, after criticism by some prosecutors who said the governor's policy for granting clemencies was too lenient, Huckabee announced stiffer guidelines he would follow in granting executive clemency. |
