Governor Grants Clemency For DWI Offender

Governor Huckabee has commuted the sentence of a fourth-offense DWI violator who an anti-drunken driving group argued should remain behind bars. Huckabee`s grant of clemency today made Eugene Fields immediately eligible for parole, and he was released from prison this afternoon. That`s despite what the Arkansas chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving -- known as MADD -- said were compelling reasons to deny Fields` clemency request. The 65-year-old Fields owns a shopping center in Van Buren and has been involved in real estate developments in Rogers and in Texas. He was sentenced in August 2001 to six years in prison. After the state Court of Appeals upheld his conviction, he began serving his sentence in May 2003. He had previous DWI convictions in 1996, 1998 and 1999, each in Fort Smith. In a letter to Huckabee, MADD Executive Director Teresa Belew noted prior convictions for which Fields received suspended jail time or community service. She said his 72-month prison sentence already had been reduced to a year because of prison overcrowding. The governor said in February that a unanimous state parole board recommendation and imminent parole eligibility prompted him to consider granting Fields` clemency.