Hundreds In Dallas Agree To A Plea Deal To Keep A DWI Off Their Record
DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - Hundreds of people arrested for drinking and driving in Dallas County kept a DWI off their record thanks to a plea deal.
The CBS 11 I-Team found in hundreds of cases this year the Dallas County District Attorney's Office agreed to drop a DWI charge. In exchange the drivers pled guilty to Obstruction of a Highway.
"That's insulting," said Laura Duke, whose son was killed eleven years ago by a drunk driver. "That means what we've gone through and what others have gone through really don't mean anything."
Assistant Dallas District Attorney Rebecca Dodds said her office only offers this plea deal if the chances of getting a DWI conviction are slim.
"There are many circumstances that we would end up dismissing DWI charges," she said. "The main ones are because we can't prove a legal component of the case."
Like a DWI, an Obstruction of a Highway is class B misdemeanor and comes with strict probation terms.
"That probation is handled just like a DWI," said Dodds. "That person is still doing the DWI class. They are still going to the victim impact panel. They are still being impacted by probation and having to report. They still can't consume alcohol on probation and all of those things are for the betterment of the citizens of Dallas County as opposed to outright dismissing the case."
The I-Team looked into the more than 400 Obstruction of a Highway convictions in Dallas County from January to June of this year and nearly every one of the cases started out as a DWI arrest.
Many of the cases lacked breath and blood evidence. Drivers simply refused those tests.
However, the I-Team found cases where the DWI charge was dropped despite the driver having a blood alcohol content level of more than twice to legal limit, according to court documents.
The I-Team also found cases where the driver arrested for DWI was involved in an accident and yet the DWI charge was dismissed for an Obstruction of a Highway plea.
The DA's office said there were too many holes in these cases to risk taking them to trial and an Obstruction of a Highway conviction is better than nothing.
"We have to figure out what the right answer is on that case," said Dodds. "We have to figure out if we can prove that in a court and if we can't then we have to figure out what the right answer is for that circumstance."
While Dodds said the key to the plea deal are the strict probation terms with an Obstruction of a Highway charge, for many defendants it's about perception.
"It's a way of hiding what the real offense was," said Mike Coffey who runs a background screening company. "There's a reason these defendants accept these deals because they know what it's going to look like on their criminal history when they applied for the job."
So far this year, more than 5,500 misdemeanor DWI cases have been filed in Dallas County. In about a quarter of those cases, the defendant has pleaded guilty. Most of the other will take years before there's an outcome.
Dallas County is not alone in offering this plea deal, the I-Team also found DWI charges in Tarrant County that were dropped when drivers agreed to pled guilty to an Obstruction of a Highway.
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Latest News:
Top Trending:
- Before Drug Sentencing Former Cowboy Sends Letter To CBS 11
- 4th Abduction Attempt In Tarrant County
- Evacuations In Milford After Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion
- Witnesses Watch 2 Lions Kill Lioness At Dallas Zoo
- Safety Institute Suggests Booster Seats Until Age 12
- PHOTOS: Your Pet Pictures
