Nearly three years after being left to recover from wounds that almost killed him, Gadach has chosen to forgive Lunn. After serving a year and a half in prison, Lunn was released in December. On Monday night, Lunn and Gadach stood side by side, talking to other DWI offenders in a church basement.

Gadach proposed the joint appearances in a phone conversation shortly after Lunn’s release.

"I live with it every day," said Lunn. "It’s crazy. It still blows my mind today that I can just talk to him the way I do, the way he treats me. Like I’m a human being after what happened between us."

Jo Baker, who organizes victim impact panels for MADD Minnesota, said the relationship Gadach has fostered with Lunn is beyond rare.

"To see the victim plus the offender that caused the crash this victim was in, just does not happen like this is tonight."

"This is Adam Lunn. He’s the guy who hit me," Gadach told the crowd, explaining that he had a DUI of his own fifteen years ago.

"I sat there in court and I looked at him and I said, ‘but by the grace of God go I,’" said Gadach.

Said Gadach of Lunn, "If I’ve got him on my side I think we change the world, you know. I honestly do."

The Los Angeles Times reports that the rookie linebacker from USC was arrested Friday after police said he hit a parking meter and two parked cars in northern Kentucky. He was charged with drunk and careless driving, and a court hearing was scheduled for Feb. 25.

He changed his plea to guilty on the drunk-driving charge Tuesday and received a suspended seven-day jail sentence. The careless driving charge was dropped. Maualuga had his driver’s license suspended for 90 days and was ordered to participate in an alcohol and drug education program.

Maualuga was also put on probation for two years and ordered to pay $884 in fines plus court costs. He’ll also have to make restitution for damages from the accident.

In a statement released through his agents, Maualuga apologized "for letting everyone down and making a terrible decision to drive under the influence. I wanted to acknowledge fault quickly and accept the consequences for my actions, which are the same that anyone else facing these charges would receive."

Launched last month, the four 30-second PSAs show so-called impaired driving "experts" sharing their theories on how to beat the system on a talk show called "Stayin’ On The Road."

In one spot, an actor shows audiences how to beat a breathalyzer test by sucking on an oxidized penny. "It’s the cheapest solution in the world, it’s the cheapest bail in the world," he says. Obviously impressed, the talk show host says it’s like "fighting a copper with a copper."

In another ad, Rob, the "creator" of DriveBackroads.ca explains to audiences how "99.9% of people that don’t go through RIDE programs don’t get caught by RIDE programs."
Each spot ends with the campaign tag line, "There are a lot of idiots out there. Help us keep them off the road," and reminds viewers to call 911 when they spot a suspected drunk driver.

James Ansley, creative director of TBWA\Toronto, said the effort purposely takes a humorous approach to anti-drinking and driving ads that typically feature crying relatives.

"I feel these spots are like old Monty Python skits, that are funny, yet twisted but most of all impressionable and very memorable," said campaign director Adam Massey of Holiday Films.

The myths used in each spot are based on anecdotes and websites dedicated to beating breathalyzers, said Ansley.

"We wanted to reveal these people for exactly who they are–idiots with half-baked ideas," he said.

The effort is part of the organization’s Campaign 911, which first launched in 2007 to encourage Canadians to call the emergency service to report suspected impaired drivers.

The campaign is running regionally until the Victoria Day weekend, when it launches nationally, said Ansley. At this point, the spots will also be posted online.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving has said the .02 percent standard is lower than any U.S. state. Sweden has had .02 percent limit for all drivers since 1990.

Some senators criticized the measure, saying the island instead should have raised the legal drinking age to 21 from 18 as a way to curb drunk driving.

Roman Furman, 41, is on trial for second-degree murder, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, and several other counts stemming from the 2007 Labor Day weekend crash that killed Joseph Conway, Jr., a former Staten Island lawyer who later served as Pataki’s attorney.

Conway, 39, a Massachusetts resident, was driving back after a family reunion in Prince’s Bay when Furman drove his 2006 Subaru the wrong way on the West Shore Expressway, glanced off a Cadillac Escalade, and then slammed into Conway’s Volvo. A passenger in Conway’s vehicle was also injured.

When police arrived, Furman was "screaming and yelling" uncontrollably, forcing emergency workers to strap him to a gurney, Highway Patrol Officer Joe Marino testified today. Marino said he twice tried to administer a Breathalyzer test, but Furman refused both times by clenching his teeth tightly.

"I told him to wrap his lips around the tube and blow," Marino told jurors. "I put the PBT [portable Breathalyzer test] to his teeth with the hope that he would give us the proper sample. He was totally uncooperative."

Police and prosecutors said Furman had nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system at the time of the crash.

Assistant district attorneys Mark Palladino and Adam Silberlight maintained that Furman was so drunk and out of control at the scene that he exhibited a "depraved indifference to human life" that warranted a top charge of murder.

Furman’s attorney Barry Agulnick argued that Furman was so out of it at the time that he couldn’t formulate the mental capacity to commit a depraved murder.

"I don’t condone Mr. Furman’s behavior," Agulnick said during his opening arguments yesterday, "but he is not a murderer."

Conway, a 1986 graduate of Monsignor Farrell High School who earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Fordham University and a juris doctor from New York Law School, worked for state Attorney General Dennis Vacco’s transition team in 1992.

He later joined Gov. Pataki’s administration, working first for the state Consumer Protection Agency and then the governor’s general staff before joining the Child Services Administration as a staff lawyer.
While working for the state, Conway helped draft several pieces of legislation, including the state’s puppy lemon law, and he worked on the Child Health Plus plan to provide health insurance for uninsured children.

After leaving state work before Pataki’s third term ended in 2006, Conway practiced international law and was a partner in an art gallery.

Furman could face a maximum of 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the top charge of second-degree murder.

The trial resumes tomorrow morning at state Supreme Court, St. George, in front of Justice Stephen J. Rooney.

Gibson successfully completed his court-ordered, three-year probation, which included performing public service and attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. He also paid $1,600 in fines. As a first-time offender, he was eligible to have his conviction erased after fulfilling his probation, but he is vulnerable to more serious charges should he be arrested again.

After Gibson’s arrest, during which he made anti-Semitic remarks to the arresting officer, the actor pleaded no contest to driving 87 miles per hour with an open bottle of tequila in his hand. He also had a 0.12 percent blood-alcohol content, well above the legal limit of .08.

The Associated Press reports that Roger Avary was sentenced Tuesday in a Ventura court. He also received five years of probation.

Avary pleaded guilty in August to gross vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving for the 2008 crash that killed a passenger in Avary’s Mercedes in Ventura County. Authorities say Avary’s car was traveling at more than 100 mph when it crashed into a telephone pole.

Avary’s wife was ejected from the vehicle and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Avary and Quentin Tarantino share the 1995 Academy Award for writing "Pulp Fiction." He also co-wrote the screenplay for the movie "Beowulf."

ABC2 News Investigator Joce Sterman looked into how Kendall has beaten the system in the past and why thousands just like him are on the road every day.

In August, Kendall was caught driving drunk for the fifth time while going more than 100 miles per hour and swerving.
The maximum punishment for a first-time DUI in Maryland is one year in jail, but court records show Kendall has only served 21 days so far.

ABC2 News pulled his cases to find out why and found that in the five times he’s been arrested and charged with drunk driving since 2001, Kendall’s consistently gotten deals.

He has pleaded guilty to lesser charges like driving while impaired or reckless driving, charges that come with smaller penalties. Former Baltimore prosecutor Page Croyder said, “The system doesn’t look at them as criminals.”

As a career prosecutor, Crovder spent more than 20 years in Maryland courtrooms and now blogs about the legal system.
While she wasn’t involved in any of Kendall’s cases, she says in her experience, pleas in DUI cases are typical because many times it all comes down to a few simple breaths.

Croyder tells ABC2, “The lesser plea when you’re talking about drunk driving mostly occurs because the person refuses the breathalyzer test. There’s a big reward. Everybody in Maryland better refuse the breathalyzer test because the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.”

Croyder believes the system has a lot of flaws and a mindset that needs to be changed because people like Kendall who are repeatedly caught drinking and driving can get back behind the wheel over and over again.

That same night, Reggie Stephey, an 18-year-old football player at Lake Travis High School, was driving home from another party in Austin, and had been drinking. On a curve, Stephey’s SUV plowed into the car carrying Saburido and her friends. The crash killed the driver, Natalia Chyptchak Bennet, and Laura Guerrero, a 20-year-old University of Texas student from Colombia. Saburido and another passenger were pulled from the wreckage as the car burst into flames.

Saburido, trapped in the front passenger seat, burned for nearly a minute before paramedics could put out the fire. Burns covered her body, except for the bottom of her legs and feet. She spent months at a Galveston burn unit, undergoing skin grafts and emergency surgeries. Her lips, ears, and nose fell off. Her eyes were sewn shut so they wouldn’t dry out. The dead bone of her fingers was amputated.

In June 2001, a jury found Stephey guilty of two counts of intoxication manslaughter and sentenced him to 7 years in prison. At a meeting during the trial, Saburido asked to meet with Stephey, and told Stephey she forgave him. He served every year of his sentence before being released in June 2008.

Jeremy Schwartz of the American Statesman writes that today, Saburido tells her story to the public in an effort to raise awareness about drunk driving. “Jacqui has probably been the most effective person, program or campaign to help us deter drinking and driving,” said Linda Tomasini, a safety contract specialist for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in San Antonio. “She’s a hero to a lot of people.”

However, her private life is still incredibly difficult. She has spent much of the past three years inside her apartment in Caracas, struggling to get out of bed every morning. Her early hopes that surgery would restore her life led to the realization that while her friends were getting married and starting careers and families, her life was not changing.

“I need to get the strength to keep going,” she said during filming of a public service announcement for a new anti-drunken driving campaign. “The most important thing is to regain my faith in God. Otherwise, I can be lost forever.” A few weeks later, she checked herself into a South Florida hospital, entering a three-month program featuring intensive counseling, group therapy, and meditation.

Saburido’s story has been reproduced more than 200,000 times and has been distributed to high school students throughout Texas. Her story became the subject of an anti-drunken driving campaign by TxDOT featuring videos, posters, and a public service announcement showing Saburido lowering a photograph of her pretty 20-year-old face to reveal her disfigured visage.

“It went national, international,” said Terry Pence, TxDOT’s traffic safety director. “People just embraced the story. It’s the hardest-hitting campaign (TxDOT) has ever been involved in.” Soon high school teachers were using Saburido’s story as a teaching tool in Texas health classes; a judge in Australia was sentencing drunken drivers to watch videos featuring Saburido; and a state trooper in Florida taped her poster to the inside of his patrol cars so Saburido’s burned face stared back at drunken-driving suspects.

Janet Lea, senior vice-president of Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing, which put together the “Before and After” TxDOT campaign featuring Saburido, estimates that as many as a billion people have seen Saburido’s story.

“Her story has touched the world,” said Laura Dean-Mooney, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “She is known everywhere you go…I think she has one of the most impactful stories anywhere.”

Saburido estimates that she’s had nearly 100 surgeries since her accident. Cornea and stem cell transplants in both eyes have dramatically improved her vision, and her fingers and thumb have been surgically extended on her left hand, allowing her to use them to push buttons. But she looks about the same as she did after the crash ten years ago. “I got tired of trying to find doctors, of looking, looking, looking,” she said.
“When you return home, and you see that your friends have lives, that they’ve gotten married and have jobs, and I’m home alone, you see the reality of the situation.”

Her improved vision actually contributed to her depression. “I have more independence, but in a way it caused more emotional pain,” she said. “When I see better, I see how my body is. I see how other people can do many things I cannot.”

Saburido was frequently mentioned as a candidate for the world’s first face transplant, but it went to a French woman in 2005. Saburido said she decided against the transplant because of the side effects of the anti-rejection drugs she would have to take for the rest of her life. She worried they would increase her chances of cancer and arthritis.

But the bigger concern was that the drugs would render her unable to have children. She remains driven by her hope to have a family of her own, to “find a wonderful soul” to be with her.

Upon hearing that Stephey has enrolled in college after leaving prison, she said she has mixed emotions. “I don’t know if I have anger,” she said. “I know he didn’t mean to hurt anybody, but to tell you I feel good he’s studying? Maybe it makes me a little envious that he’s getting along with his life.”

Throughout his nearly eight years in prison, Stephey collaborated with Saburido on the drunken driving campaign, filming public service announcements and speaking to high schools. Law enforcement officials say Stephey was nearly as vital to the success of the campaign as Saburido. A high school football player with all-American looks, Stephey was someone potential drunken drivers could relate to.

Stephey enrolled at the University of Texas last spring as a junior after getting associate degrees in philosophy and business while in prison. He works construction jobs on the side. He said he will forever carry the burden of being responsible for two deaths and Saburido’s disfigurement. But he seems determined to move past the accident. “It’s defined a large part of my life, but it doesn’t define who I am,” he said.

Stephey met with Saburido while she was in San Antonio in mid-August, the first time they had seen each other since the trial. Neither will go into detail about what they talked about for more than an hour. “I think it went well,” Stephey said. “It was emotionally draining. I’m still reeling from it…My struggles don’t compare to the struggles Jacqui goes through on a daily basis.”

After returning from treatment, Saburido said that although her mind still sabotages her, she is feeling more hopeful than she has in years. She talks of beginning an anti-drunken driving campaign in Venezuela and becoming more involved in the movement in the U.S. “I’d like to be happy with myself, to accept myself how I am and be more independent,” she said.

Her trip to San Antonio was her first major trip without her father, a small step towards independence. “I’m trying to get on track,” she said. “It was a life I didn’t want to live, but it’s the life I have now. Life keeps on going, and we can’t stop it.”

“There was a big long truck…that was pulled up in between the two trees like it was dang near hitting the fence,” witness Roy Ladd said. When police looked in the vehicle, they found seven kids, aged one to 13, none of whom were wearing seatbelts.

Little was arrested on suspicion of child neglect, drunk driving, and violating a no-contact order taken out by Simmons, who was also jailed and accused of child neglect. Authorities say Little and Simmons got into an argument and Simmons yanked the steering wheel, causing them to crash.