St. Louis, MO
Governor Nixon’s plans to toughen the state’s drunk driving laws is coming under fire from a local defense attorney who represents accused drivers.Defense Attorney Ed Brown with Brown and Brown says Nixon’s plan would be too tough on first-time offenders.
“I think its out of line with reality…your putting a scarlet letter on people” said Brown.
Brown also has big problems with Nixon’s call for forced breathalyser tests. He called it a violation of the constitution. “you have the right not to self incriminate” said Brown.
And he says Nixon’s plan would overload the state court system with drunk driving cases. Brown does agree with one proposal: tougher penalties for drunk drivers with a .15 or more blood alcohol level.
There is also reaction from the City Prosecutor’s office where Pippa Barrett, the Chief Misdemeanor Officer, disagrees that bringing D.W.I. cases to the state level would overwhelm the system.
On the issue of a forced breathalyser test which Defence attorney Brown called unconstitutional, Barrett said “I think they’re right in a 5th Amendment sort of arena when your talking about a criminal case. I’m not sure that driving being a privilege that the same rights apply.”
Barrett says what she really likes about the Nixon proposal is requiring jurisdictions to register D.W.I. cases to the highway patrol’s tracking system…so they can detect repeat offenders.
Some of Governor Nixon’s legislative proposals include:
1. Requiring repeat D.W.I. offenders, drivers with a blood-alcohol level of .15 or above, and drivers who refuse to submit to a blood-alcohol test to be charged in a state court, as opposed to a municipal court.
2. Create more penalties for offenders with blood-alcohol levels of .15 and above.
3. Making it a crime for any driver to refuse to submit to a blood-alcohol test.
4. Expanding the use of ignition-interlock devices.
5. Eliminating the provision under current law that allows D.W.I. offenders to have their records expunged after 10 years without another offense.
6. Requiring all jurisdictions to enter D.W.I. arrest and case information into the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Driving While Intoxicated Tracking System (DWITS).
7. Prohibiting a defendant from withdrawing a guilty plea for D.W.I. when reaching the end of his probation under a suspended imposition of sentence.
The initiatives will be included in legislation that will be sponsored by Rep. Bryan Stevenson (R-Joplin) and co-sponsored by Rep. Rachel Bringer (D-Palmyra).