GREENSBORO - Drivers caught rocketing along Guilford County highways at 100 mph or faster find forgiveness from Judge William "Pete" Hunter.

From January 2002 through June 2006, Hunter granted twice as many free passes to fast drivers as any other District Court judge in the state. He gave "prayers for judgment continued" 101 times, or in 74 percent of the high-speed cases he heard.

PJCs let speeders keep their licenses and avoid a rise in their insurance bills.

Among the 100 mph drivers excused in Hunter's court: teens caught racing, drivers who tried to dodge the officer, people with extensive histories of speeding -- and one previously at fault in a fatal crash.

Hunter defends his record, saying that he weighs a number of factors before granting such leniency.

"Whether I'm out of step with [other judges], I don't know," he said in an interview. "You know, I just deal with what is before me."

Hunter is not breaking any law. Judges have the discretion to delay judgment in most criminal cases. In speeding cases, there's no limit on what speeds can be forgiven with a PJC, and no requirement that the driver have a clean record.

State legislators could restrain judges who give these breaks. They have already blocked such judgments in other types of cases, such as driving while impaired or passing a stopped school bus, said Ralph A. Walker, director of the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts.

Breaks given freely

Hunter, 64, is a registered Democrat, although elections for District Court judges are nonpartisan. He has served as a judge for more than 12 years. He left a job as a high school teacher and football coach to pursue law in the 1970s.

Most speeders deal with tickets in traffic court by talking with an assistant district attorney. Those who want to try their cases -- which is rare -- or those looking for a PJC come before a judge.

Hunter has handed out breaks liberally, sometimes without knowing a driver's record. The judge said prosecutors or defense lawyers generally show him the driver's history or tell him about it. He does not demand to see these records, however, and prior tickets don't prevent a PJC.

Of the 73 North Carolina drivers to whom Hunter gave breaks in 100 mph cases, 14 had four or more prior tickets. Thirteen have gotten three or more tickets since.

Among the high-speed cases in which Hunter granted a PJC:

* James Tompkins, 72, of Deep Gap, who was ticketed for driving 100 mph in 2005 on Interstate 40. Two years before, troopers accused him of killing a Charlotte woman in a car crash. He eventually pleaded guilty to reckless driving to endanger. Unable to stop, he veered across the center line and slammed into an oncoming car to avoid ramming the car in front of him. He did not return calls.

* Dennis Studer, 44, of Kernersville, who had already racked up 20 speeding tickets since 2001, including three over 90 mph. He went before Hunter in 2005 on a ticket for running 100 on a 55 mph stretch of N.C. 68. When the officer pulled him over, he was talking on his cell phone. Studer could not be reached.

* Alicia Cockman, 22, of Bear Creek, who pushed her car to 108 mph on U.S. 421 in a race with two teenage boys in 2004. Though only 19 at the time, Cockman had already been caught speeding three times. Hunter gave her and the two other racers a break; since then she has been ticketed for speeding four more times. Cockman could not be reached.

* Alexia Phillips, 41, of Durham, who was stopped on Interstate 85 by a trooper who clocked her at 104 mph. He cited her for having an expired license. She also had a 10-year-old child in the car. Phillips did not return calls.

Hunter said he could not recall any of those cases or 15 others The News & Observer discussed with him last month.

He says he uses no hard-and-fast guidelines to deal with speeders. He says his decisions depend on the facts in each case, the officer's opinion, and whether the officer was available to testify.

According to a review of 136 cases he has handled involving 100 mph charges, Hunter generally looks favorably on drivers who complete an eight-hour defensive driving course before stepping into his courtroom. Still, he gives breaks to some drivers who don't take the class and turns down others who do.

Hunter said he generally requires driving school and requires some speeders to perform community service.

"And that's punishment enough," he said.

Tell it to this judge

Hunter concedes that driving 100 mph can be dangerous. And he said he understands the pain of those hurt by unsafe drivers: His grandmother was killed by a drunken driver.

"It's not like I'm taking this stuff lightly," the judge said.

Hunter is known for being generous with breaks for high-rate speeders. Rodney Crouse, 38, of Walnut Cove, was assigned to Hunter's court last year after he got a ticket for barreling along Interstate 40 on his motorcycle at 100 mph. Crouse, an electrician, said he was trying to get the tag number of a truck that had run him off the road.

Crouse said his attorney, James L. Swisher of Greensboro, told him Hunter was "a good judge to be in front of."

Swisher has handled traffic cases for decades. He said he likes to get in front of Hunter with his high-speed clients, although he said some other judges in Guilford will also grant PJCs in such cases. Records show that from January 2002 through June 2006, 40.5 percent of all 100 mph cases in Guilford ended in a PJC, far more than in any other district in the state.

Swisher said that before his clients go to court, he normally has them take an eight-hour defensive driving course and do an hour of community service for every mile over the limit they were charged with speeding.

"That's been sort of an accepted policy for a number of years," Swisher said. "Most of the judges are following that sort of guideline."

Crouse said Swisher took his driving school certification and told him to wait in the hall while he talked to the judge. Within 15 minutes, Crouse said, the lawyer emerged from the courtroom with news that Hunter had given him a break.

Crouse said he never had to explain his nine prior speeding tickets or his DWI conviction a decade before.