9 Drunk Driving Convictions?.....Back on Streets

Posted by Jim Spence on Friday, November 18, 2011
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Santa Fe New Mexican - A Santa Fe man who has admitted to at least nine drunken-driving convictions will be released from jail again next week after reaching a plea agreement Thursday. Daniel LeFebre, 47, has been in the county jail since May 24, 2010, when Santa Fe police arrested him on Cerrillos Road on suspicion of DWI. The district attorney said problems with evidence in the arrest caused prosecutors to reach a deal in which not all of his prior DWI convictions factored into his sentence. His guilty plea Thursday was recognized only as a fourth offense and could only carry a maximum 18-month sentence.
Assistant District Attorney Jason Lidyard said there were "evidentiary issues and witness unavailability" at the time LeFebre was scheduled to go to trial Thursday. Prosecutors offered a plea agreement to LeFebre that would guarantee a felony conviction without risking acquittal by a jury. "We approved this plea," District Attorney Angela "Spence" Pacheco said Thursday. "This is a plea that has him pleading guilty to a felony in a case that definitely had a lot of questions. This guarantees he has another provable conviction for down the road if it ever should come up that he's caught driving drunk again." Read full story here: News New Mexico

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1 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are other states that have legislated a mandatory minimum 30 day jail time for even first time offenders. Sometimes they allow 1st time offenders to serve their time on the weekends. Repeat offenders, depending on the circumstances, are usually sentenced to 90 days or more in the county jail, which cannot be served on weekends. In those states, the number of DUI's convictions have been reduced. New Mexico should require jail time for first offenders. The financial implications of required jail time are sobering.

November 18, 2011 at 10:07 AM

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