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Adults Face Felony for Giving Minors Alcohol
HB 330 Would Punish Adults if Drunk Youths Cause Injury

(JUNEAU) - Adults who illegally provide alcohol to minors could face felony penalties of up to five years in prison if the youths then injured or killed others while under the influence of that alcohol, under a bill the House passed today.

House Bill 330 raises the sanction for such crimes from a class A misdemeanor to a class C felony in recognition of the serious consequences that can result when adults give liquor to children, said Rep. Norman Rokeberg (R-Anchorage), who sponsored the bill as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

"It is important that individuals who purchase alcohol for minors be appropriately punished when those minors go on to hurt or kill someone while under the influence of alcohol," Rokeberg said. "This bill sends a clear message that the people of Alaska will not condone illegal acts with such potentially life-and-death consequences."

Rokeberg said the bill was prompted in part by a tragedy on July 9, 2001, when Anchorage Police Officer Justin Wollam and three teenagers were killed when Robert Esper, 19-year old Anchorage youth, crossed the median on the Glenn Highway and drove his car head on into Wollam's cruiser while eluding other police in a high-speed chase.

Police investigators learned that Esper and the other minors in his car had attended a party earlier that night, where they were drinking alcohol furnished by two adults. While those adults were convicted of class A misdemeanors, Rokeberg said the penalties of one year in prison and fines up to $5,000 that can accompany such convictions are insufficient in light of the tragic results of their illegal activity.

Rokeberg said he introduced HB 330 at the request of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, an advocacy group comprised in large measure of relatives and friends of those killed by impaired drivers. The bill does not interfere with parents' legal right to give alcohol to their children, though not to their children's under-aged friends.

HB 330 passed the House by a vote of 31-4, and notice of reconsideration of the vote was given.

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