Father of 2 charged with DUI4
Toolbox
By Brent Curtis Staff Writer - Published: November 3, 2009
A Danby father who allegedly abandoned his daughters after an alcohol-induced crash Saturday remains jailed in Rutland on $5,000 bail.
Larry W. Morris, 38, pleaded innocent Monday in Rutland District Court to a felony fourth drunken driving charge as well as misdemeanor charges of careless or negligent operation of a motor vehicle, cruelty to a child under the age of 10 and driving with a suspended license.
Morris allegedly was the driver in a crash on Danby Hill Road involving a Subaru Legacy that hit a utility pole.
Morris, who witnesses said spent the day drinking beer in a home on the road, allegedly fled the vehicle leaving his 6- and 10-year-old daughters behind. The girls were uninjured in the crash.
State police said Morris' blood-alcohol level was 0.169 percent — twice the legal limit to operate a motor vehicle in Vermont — when he submitted a breath test more than three hours after the crash, police said.
During his arraignment, Morris' public defender Steven Zwicky acknowledged that his client had a problem with alcohol, but he said the prosecution's request for $7,500 bail was unnecessary since Morris was willing to comply with a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week curfew along with requirements to report daily to the Rutland County Sheriff's Department.
"There's no question that there are concerns when he's under the influence of alcohol," Zwicky said referring to the allegations and previous alcohol-related convictions for Morris. "But there's no information that these types of conduct and decisions are made when he's not consuming alcohol."
But Peter Neary, Rutland County deputy state's attorney, said Morris' alleged conduct after the crash raised serious questions about his character and mental condition. In addition to allegedly abandoning his children, Morris reportedly told witnesses after the crash that his children had been taken hostage.
"I really question the judgment and ability to rely on a person's ability to do what the court says they should do when they're making the kind of judgments seen in this affidavit," Neary said, holding up a three-page report written by police.
In the end, Judge Thomas Zonay agreed with Neary although he set bail for Morris $2,500 lower than what the prosecution sought.
"Instead of acting in a manner that was good for himself, society and his children, (Morris) allegedly gets behind the wheel after being told he shouldn't drive," the judge said. "The court has to question what could possibly be going through someone's mind at that point in time — even when intoxicated."
brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com
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