woman in court for 8th DWI shows up intoxicated, gets 18 months in prison

A Fond du Lac Wisconsin woman convicted of drunken driving for the eighth time showed up intoxicated at her sentencing hearing.

Circuit Court Judge Peter Grimm on Friday sentenced Nancy L. Thornburg, 58, of 88 S. Pioneer Parkway, to 18 months in prison with five years of extended supervision.
She then reported to the Fond du Lac County Jail where a "very weak blow" during a preliminary breath test revealed a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .196 percent, about 2� times the legal limit, according to a Fond du Lac County Jail report.
Thornburg told officers she did not know a condition of her signature bond was to not drink alcohol. She also claimed the last time she had a drink was Thursday, according to the report.
Thornburg spent 13 months in prison for her seventh offense of drunken driving. She did not have any run-ins with the law from 2002 to February of this year, Grimm said.
He said the case "boils down to what society should do with chronic alcoholics."
Instead of locking up Thornburg for years, Grimm said he was structuring a sentence that would treat Thornburg's issues.
At 11:38 p.m. on Feb. 12, an officer spotted Thornburg stopped for about 40 seconds at a flashing yellow light on East Division Street near South Marr Street. Her car had a defective taillight and she was not wearing a seat belt, according to court documents.
She admitted to drinking two beers and taking two sleeping pills, according to the officer's report.
Assistant District Attorney Jocelyn Jurva said Thornburg would not take a breath test at the time of arrest. However, a blood draw taken two hours later revealed a BAC of .212, more than 10 times the legal limit for someone with three or more drunken driving convictions.
Jurva requested a three-year prison sentence.
Defense attorney Catherine Block said Thornburg's husband, James, had a heart attack the night of the arrest. After paramedics would not allow her to ride in the ambulance, she chose to drive to the hospital, Block said.
Grimm said Thornburg should have called someone for a ride or hired a taxicab.
Jurva said the "disease of alcohol has cast a shadow over all of the positive things" in Thornburg's life.