DWI study calls for fewer reduced pleas

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

GALLUP — Interim results from a DWI court monitoring study released Thursday calls for cutting back on the number of reduced pleas, improving the ignition interlock process, adding a public defender’s office in McKinley County and additional training for prosecutors.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced results of the study conducted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving New Mexico. The study includes recommendations for the six New Mexico counties with the highest rate of alcohol-related fatalities — Bernalillo, Dona Ana, McKinley, Rio Arriba, San Juan and Santa Fe.

The interim report includes tracking data for 1,353 DWI cases monitored in the six counties from January to May 2008. Of 1,353 cases, 432 were adjudicated. There were 921 cases pending, 62 cases dismissed, guilty pleas in 357 cases, 201 pleas to the original charge, and 156 pleas to a reduced charge. Ignition interlocks were ordered in 347 cases.

Among the report’s findings, several courts, including McKinley and Aztec Magistrate courts locally, accepted pleas to a reduced DWI charge in more than 40 percent of the cases monitored. Others included Bernalillo Metropolitan and Santa Fe Magistrate courts

Of particular concern were several instances when defendants charged with aggravated DWI — blood alcohol content greater than .15 — were allowed to plead to simple DWI; defendants with multiple DWI charges were allowed to plead to first-time DWI charges; and cases where reduced pleas were accepted for defendants who had refused alcohol breath testing.

In McKinley County, ignition interlocks were ordered in all 117 of cases where DWI offenders were found guilty; however, in 84 cases, or 72 percent, the interlock requirements were waived when offenders signed an affidavit attesting that they did not own a vehicle.

To address terms under which a reduced plea should be accepted, MADD urges prosecutors not to offer and judges not to accept pleas to reduce cases from aggravated to simple DWI where the defendant’s blood alcohol content is greater than .17 or where cases involve multiple DWI convictions, unless exceptional circumstances apply.

MADD also recommends:

Additional training for prosecutors regarding appropriate interactions with judges, the defense bar, and defendants;
Probation or compliance units be tasked with determining whether defendants actually have a registered vehicle or regular access to a vehicle prior to courts accepting affidavits waiving the interlock requirement.

DWI offenders who claim they have neither a vehicle nor regular access to a vehicle be required to utilize alcohol monitoring as an alternative.

Placing a public defender’s office in McKinley County to alleviate substantial delays and inefficiencies of police and court time in Gallup Magistrate Court;

Amending the Six Month Rule to charge the defense with time for continuances if an officer is present and the defense refuses the opportunity to conduct an interview.
Prosecutors’ offices adopt a policy whereby reduced pleas or lesser sentences are offered only at first pretrial conferences so that defendants know no further reductions will be offered at a later date. As a result, “wait and see” strategies would not be viable, and the processing of cases would be timelier for courts, officers and defendants.

UNM should resume its DA Clinic and augment prosecutor training programs for law students.

Richardson has made reducing death and injury because of DWI a personal priority. As a result, New Mexico has seen positive results in the battle against drunken driving, including no longer being ranked in the top 10 states with the highest level of alcohol-related fatalities per miles traveled.

“The results of MADD N.M.’s study will allow us to improve DWI adjudication and the overall court process in New Mexico,” Richardson said. “We will continue to work diligently to ensure DWI offenders are adjudicated fairly and efficiently.”

MADD New Mexico expects to track more than 4,000 DWI cases through the court process during the four-year project.