AUGUSTA — A man with six prior drunken driving convictions — including one related to an accident in which he killed his mother — has once again been indicted on a charge of drunken driving.

Dwayne B. Stevens, 50, of Augusta, faces a class B felony of aggravated criminal operating under the influence offense that allegedly occurred Sept. 1 in the city. It also says he refused to submit to a test at the request of a law enforcement officer.

An indictment is not a determination of guilt, but it indicates that there is enough evidence to proceed with formal charges and a trial.

The charge carries a maximum 10-year prison term and the indictment refers to his May 6, 1985, conviction in the crash that killed his mother, who was a passenger in his car when it struck a brick wall at the base of Northern Avenue. The wall divided the lower part of the street from the then Edwards Manufacturing Co. property. Edith Stevens, 44, bled to death at the scene.

In 2005, he faced another drunken driving charge, a misdemeanor offense because more than 10 years had lapsed since the vehicular manslaughter conviction.

The 2005 case made its way twice to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, whose rulings left Stevens charged with a misdemeanor operating under the influence charge despite the prior manslaughter conviction.

Stevens pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 250 days in jail, fined $1,000 and his license was suspended for four years.

But changes to the law were made in 2011, which enabled the prosecutor this time to charge him with the more serious offense.

“Now the statute’s very clear: If you have a prior manslaughter conviction involving drunken driving, then that conviction can be used to elevate any future OUI to a class B,” District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said on Friday. She said Stevens faces a second class B charge of operating under the influence stemming from an incident Aug. 15. However, that one was not presented to the most recent grand jury.

“We’re waiting to receive blood test results from the hospital,” Maloney said.

In the meantime, Stevens is being held in the Kennebec County jail in lieu of $2,000 bail and has yet to be scheduled for arraignment on the indictment. It also did not appear that he had an attorney yet.

“I’m glad he’s currently incarcerated,” Maloney said. “He’s extremely dangerous behind the wheel.”

According Barbara Redmond at the secretary of state’s office, which includes the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Stevens has six prior OUI convictions.

And his refusal to take a chemical test Aug. 15 led to an administrative suspension of his conditional license on Sept. 6; a second administrative suspension was to take effect Friday for the Sept. 1 stop. The officer’s report about the latter indicated Stevens refused a test and had passengers under 21 in his vehicle. Those suspensions would run until 2017, Redmond said.

Stevens was sentenced in 1986 to five years in jail, with all but one year suspended, following his guilty pleas to vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, driving after suspension of license and leaving the scene of a property damage accident. Following a probation violation for drinking in public, speeding and being a habitual offender, Stevens ended up serving all of the suspended sentence as well.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams