From My San Antonio – San Antonio Express News
NEW BRAUNFELS — A Seguin man recently sentenced here to life in prison for his eighth drunken driving conviction wants a new trial, arguing in pleadings filed Monday that valid defense objections and motions were improperly denied.
District Attorney Jennifer Tharp, meanwhile, hailed Cornelio Garcia-Mata’s stiff punishment as a sign of community intolerance for driving while intoxicated.
“I am confident that the trial was conducted appropriately and the sentence will remain,” she said Tuesday.
Before the case went to trial, Tharp said, Garcia-Mata, 45, had turned down a plea bargain offer similar to one struck last year with Thomas E. Condon, who agreed to a 50-year prison term for his ninth DWI conviction.
Since the jury made a finding that Garcia-Mata’s truck ….MORE