Reckless drivers will to wear the names of their victims

Friday, July 23, 1999 | 3:34 a.m.

The bracelets to be worn by Paul Auzenne and Jeffrey Roussin reference the Henderson drag-racing accident that claimed a mother and her 10-year-old son.

"In memory of Mary and James Young Jr., killed on 8/11/98 by my recklessness," reads the inscription.

The bracelet that William Rouw must wear refers to the North Las Vegas crash that killed a Cheyenne High School senior. "In memory of Theresa Schroeder, killed on 1/1/98 by my recklessness," it reads.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said he knows of no other jurisdiction that uses the strategy, which was employed for the first time in Clark County on Thursday.

Booker got the idea from the bracelets that he and many others wore in support of American servicemen held prisoner in Vietnam. He said it will continue to be used as an alternative sentencing tool.

"It helps to personalize an otherwise impersonal crime," Booker said.

The bracelets, which must be worn by the defendants except when working or bathing, were just one component of the sentences given Auzenne, Roussin and Rouw.

Each must serve five years' probation and join a program that combines counseling with intensive supervision. They also must perform 16 hours of community service each month, either helping sick children or maintaining a local driving-under-the-influence memorial.

Rouw agreed to give Schroeder's family the $15,000 he received in an insurance settlement arising from the accident. And Auzenne and Roussin agreed to pay $50,000 each to the family of the 43-year-old Mary Young.

Should the defendants not comply with the terms of the plea agreement, they will be sent to prison.

Booker said each of these cases had problems that made alternative sentencing an option.

For instance, although Rouw's blood alcohol level was 0.18 percent, he actually had the right of way when the accident occurred.

And although Auzenne and Roussin split a six-pack of beer while playing golf before their accident, neither had more than a slight trace of alcohol in their blood when their vehicles, traveling side by side between 61 and 80 mph in a 25 mph zone, rounded a curve as Young's car approached from the other direction.

Though the terms of the agreements had been worked out well in advance, two sentencing hearings Thursday elicited emotional addresses from defendants and the families of their victims.