Wednesday, August 17, 2005
'Justice system is broken'
More resources needed to convict drunken drivers
BRAD BRANAN
Tucson Citizen
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Thousands of motorists are charged with drunken driving each year in metro Tucson, giving the area one of the highest DUI arrest rates in the country.
But nearly half of those accused escape conviction in the courts that handle most DUI cases.
"The message we're sending out is that if you get a DUI, you have a good chance of getting off," said Ed Slechta, president of the Southern Arizona DUI Task Force.
Tucsonans such as David Buscemi are paying for the justice system's failure to stop more drunken drivers. Nearly killed by a drunken driver who had not been convicted on a prior DUI charge, Buscemi now lives with his mother, unemployed and collecting disability benefits.
Had the driver "been punished properly, there's a chance David wouldn't have been hurt later," said Sylvia Buscemi-Flores, David's mother. "If someone gets off easy, there's no deterrent."
Motorists in 52 percent of DUI cases are convicted in Tucson City Court and Pima County Justice Court, a Tucson Citizen investigation shows. The newspaper analyzed about 33,000 DUI cases filed in the courts from 1999 to last year.
More than 60 percent of the cases that don't end in convictions - primarily obtained through plea bargains - are dismissed. Rarely are the accused acquitted.
Motorists are beating DUI raps because:
- Young and overloaded prosecutors are up against experienced and knowledgeable defense attorneys.
- DUI cases take too long to resolve in court, allowing accused motorists to remain on the road.
- The accused learn how to exploit the system by avoiding taking the tests for drunkenness or by not showing up in court.
City and county prosecutors take DUI cases seriously and actively prosecute them, said Deputy City Attorney Laura Brynwood and Deputy County Attorney Bruce Chalk. But the county and the city need more prosecutors for DUI cases, they said. Judges also say more resources are needed to handle DUI cases.
The consequences of the existing system are that drunken drivers are free to kill or maim later, said Holly Robles, a victim's advocate for Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Pima County.
"That's our worst nightmare," she said. "The criminal justice system is broken."
Since 1999, at least 10 Pima County motorists with pending or dismissed DUI charges were killed or killed others in drunken driving crashes, records show.
In Tucson last year, at least 18 motorists were charged with injuring someone in a DUI crash when they had charges that were pending or dismissed. At least 32 people were injured in the crashes.
If drunken drivers are convicted the first time they are arrested, Slechta said, "then we can prevent some of the second and third DUIs."
High arrest rate
Metro Tucson had the 12th highest rate of DUI arrests in 2003, out of the 70 largest metro areas reporting arrests to the FBI. Six out of every 1,000 residents were arrested on DUI charges in metro Tucson.
Metro Phoenix ranked ninth for DUI arrests, highlighting a point made by MADD's national office - Arizona is known for strong DUI enforcement by police. The state funds multiagency DUI patrols throughout Arizona, including the Southern Arizona DUI Task Force.
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