In its first week, Melanie's Law has Registry scrambling

Milton Police arrested Jerry K. Taylor of Hyde Park Friday at about 6:45 p.m. on drunken driving charges, his sixth such arrest. Had the arrest occurred just seven hours earlier, Taylor's life would now be quite different.

That same day, at around 1 p.m., Governor Mitt Romney signed Melanie's Bill into law, a significant toughening of state drunken driving laws. Before the law, named for a Marshfield teen killed in 2003 by a repeat drunk driver, Taylor would have been hit with a 1 1/2-year license suspension for refusing a breathalyzer test at the arrest scene. But with the new law in effect, his license was revoked for life for the same refusal.

''He fit into the new lifetime category," said Erin Deveney, deputy registrar for the state Registry of Motor Vehicles, explaining that Taylor's five prior convictions plus the breathalyzer refusal triggered the lifetime suspension under the new law. ''This provision of the new law will have the greatest immediate impact on the largest number of drivers."

With the new law less than a week old, defense attorneys, prosecutors, police, and judges began adjusting this week to the complex new set of rules and punishments for drunk drivers prescribed by Melanie's Law. The Registry of Motor Vehicles was particularly busy.

Between Saturday and yesterday afternoon, 322 drivers were arrested in Massachusetts on alcohol-related violations, said registry officials. All these people had their vehicles impounded for 12 hours. Before Melanie's Law, most offenders would have gotten their cars back immediately. In addition, those facing license suspensions for repeat offenses began their suspensions immediately, instead of after a 15-day grace period eliminated by Melanie's Law.

The Registry of Motor Vehicles processed at least six license suspensions for breathalyzer refusals under Melanie's Law, according to Deveney. The agency could not provide any more statistics regarding the licensure actions taken in the 4 1/2 days since Melanie's Bill became law. But Deveney said her agency was glad for the new workload.

Taylor may have been the first suspect to feel the most serious consequences of Melanie's Law.

Taylor, 44, yesterday was being held on $10,000 cash bail at the Norfolk County Jail in Dedham. He was arrested Friday after another motorist saw the Hyde Park man's truck weaving on Route 28 and called police, said authorities. Police said they found alcohol in his car. Taylor refused a breathalyzer test.

Refusing breathalyzer tests has long been a contentious issue in Massachusetts. A federal government study released this year found that nearly 47 percent of drivers who were asked to take the test in Massachusetts refused it, the third highest rate in the nation. Without breathalyzer evidence, prosecutors say, drunk drivers are harder to convict.

Taylor's attorney, William P. Sweeney II, said he thought the new law was unfair to defendants. ''They've taken the presumption of innocence away from you," he said. ''Taking that test is a form of incrimination. They're giving incentives to incriminate yourself."

Taylor, who has five prior convictions for operating under the influence, could also face harsher penalties at trial under Melanie's Law. The new law similarly affected another driver, John F. Comeau III, 21, of Methuen, who was charged with drunken driving after allegedly hitting and killing Joshua Colon, 23, on Sunday. Comeau refused a breathalyzer. Because he had one prior conviction, his license was suspended for three years. It would have been one year under previous laws.

''What you're seeing is that the habitual offenders -- the people we're trying to get off the road -- are getting caught," said Ron Bersani, grandfather of Melanie Powell, 13, the new law's namesake. Taylor, he said, ''was clearly somebody who was going to drive until he killed somebody."