Posted 3/13/2008 05:41:00 PM by Douglas

Truly bizarre story of a drunk deputy that killed himself on the freeway. Of course, there's more to this story:

An on-duty undercover Harris County sheriff's deputy who was killed in a car crash last month was legally drunk, according to autopsy findings.

Tests show Deputy Craig Miller's blood alcohol level was about three times the legal limit for driving on Feb. 21 when he crashed into a commercial truck on a Katy Freeway access road, said Bill Hawkins, an assistant Harris County district attorney. A motorist is legally intoxicated when their blood alcohol level is 0.08 or above.

I would assume a post mortem BAL test would be relatively conclusive in determining just how drunk a person was, so I can't imagine that this would be up for debate at this point. But here we are:

"Craig's accident and the ongoing investigation have raised many questions and inconsistencies," the Miller family wrote in a prepared statement. "The most current results of the investigation do not equate to his actions prior to the accident, or are they in any way consistent with the husband, father and friend and professional that he was widely known to be."

Well maybe not, and it's horrible that this widow is going to raise their children without a father, but there's the way things ought to be, and there's the way things are. Especially when his life and the lives of his family aren't the only ones affected by his actions.

Jose Jesus Vieyra is in jail charged with criminally negligent homicide. Sheriff's office investigators have said Vieyra caused the crash by crossing three lanes of traffic in front of the deputy. A grand jury has yet to act on the case.

``It's outrageous,'' Vieyra's attorney Ronald Helson said. ``Anybody who is driving a motor vehicle with that much alcohol in their system, that's the most outrageous thing about this.'' He said it is a tragedy that the deputy was killed but that he doesn't believe his client was at fault.

So what happens when two parties are doing something illegal, yet one of them is way more illegal than the other? I would think being triple drunk trumps an illegal lane change (if that's what he did) on any day of the week.

Federal immigration officials have said Vieyra is in the country on a visitor's visa that has expired.

Ok, maybe not. Maybe if it was a cute blonde chick on her cell phone making a bad lane change that caused the wreck, we'd get back to our finger pointing at the evil drunk, but an illegal? Outlook not so good, amigo. But here's some evidence that Mr. Miller had a drinking problem:

An autopsy report included pathological findings that Miller suffered from acute alcoholism, according to an official who said he had seen the document.

When they cut you open after you die, it's hard to hide the fact your liver is the size of a free steak in Amarillo. But here's the real rub of the story:

Miller was off duty and at his home when his supervisor called and asked him to relieve another deputy at an undercover assignment. Miller did not expect to be called out that night, Billingsley said.

Miller would not have faced any disciplinary action had he refused and told his supervisor he had been drinking, Billingsley said. But Miller did not do so, and his supervisor did not notice any signs of intoxication during the phone call, sheriff's officials said.

``I knew him to be a good, dedicated employee,'' Billingsley said. ``This does not change the fact that he was killed in the line of the duty.''

Driving to work drunk off your ass is "in the line of duty" now? I had no idea. I guess I should start charging my commute time to my employer.

At 7:19 p.m., as Miller drove a leased Toyota 4-Runner along the inside lane of the Katy Freeway service road, he struck the back left portion of a box truck that had pulled out of a car dealership and veered into Miller's lane, sheriff's officials said. The deputy's SUV then glanced off one of the truck's dually rams, struck a curb, rolled over several times and landed on a concrete median.

This explains exactly nothing as to why Mr. Vieyra is sitting in jail.

Miller was not wearing his seatbelt.

I can forgive the man for just about everything else, but not this. Maybe as an alcoholic, he didn't realize how impaired he was, but there's no excuse for not wearing his seatbelt. After all, it's illegal!