Pubdate: Wed, 23 Aug 2006
Source: Star-News (NC)
Copyright: 2006 Wilmington Morning Star
Contact:  http://www.wilmingtonstar.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/500
Author: Ken Little
Map Editor Note: In paragraph 8: "The legislation also expands the 
definition of impaired driving to include the presence of any amount 
of illegal drugs in the blood."

NEW LAW TOUGHTENS DWI PENALTIES

Measure Provides More Enforcement Options

Penalties for drunken driving got tougher under a multifaceted law 
signed Tuesday by Gov. Mike Easley.

Known as The Motor Vehicle Driver Protection Act, the legislation 
increases penalties for DWI while ensuring laws are applied "fairly 
and consistently" throughout the state, Easley said in a prepared statement.

The new law, which becomes effective Dec. 1, adds to the list of 
DWI-related crimes, including a new category of charges that apply 
when an impaired driver injures a victim. Drivers with previous 
impaired driving convictions within seven years of a crash may now be 
charged with "aggravated felony serious injury by vehicle" or 
"aggravated felony death by vehicle."

Existing laws sometimes made it difficult to apply charges that 
specifically fit a driver's actions. In cases involving death, 
prosecutors have had to rely on a structure that obliged them to 
pursue convictions for crimes with widely divergent sentences, such 
as manslaughter as opposed to second-degree murder.

"It gives the officer some more latitude in what they can charge and 
for my office in what we can prosecute," said Rex Gore, district 
attorney of Brunswick, Bladen and Columbus counties. "There were some 
inequities that would appear. Under the prior (guidelines), you could 
charge for death but not serious injury. Now we can address it under 
the DWI statute."

The new law also limits the discretion of judges to find a DWI 
defendant not guilty if breathalyzer test results show a 
blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or more. A BAC of 0.08 
percent is the state standard for drunken driving.

"It made the language a little easier for the judges to rely strictly 
on the breathalyzer reading, regardless of how (defendants) did on 
the dexterity test," Gore said.

The law requires prosecutors to document and report their reasons for 
dismissing DWI cases. The Administrative Office of the Courts can 
post the information on its Web site. The legislation also expands 
the definition of impaired driving to include the presence of any 
amount of illegal drugs in the blood.

Gore said many of the measures signed into law by Easley were already 
practiced in the three-county 13th Prosecutorial District he supervises.

Statistics compiled by the state Highway Patrol rank New Hanover 
County at eight on the statewide list for alcohol-related highway 
crashes. Brunswick County ranks 10th, and Pender County 21st.

The legislation is welcome news to Wilmington-based Highway Patrol 
1st Sgt. J.O. Holmes.

"There's several parts in that bill that give us more tools. It gives 
law enforcement more to work with," Holmes said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman