King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, earlier this year, told KIRO-FM the breath test ban resulted in plea bargains for 10 percent of DUI defendants. (see here: http://www.mynorthwest.com/category/local_news_articles/20100923/Prosecutor:-Ruling-means-more-DUI-guilty-pleas/)
Could this be true? Well, I'm not sure where Mr. Satterberg gets his numbers from but he is totally incorrect. In truth I don't know what the percentages of plea bargains were as a result of the suppression of the BAC results, but for certain they were in excess of 50%. In the two years since the ruling, Stephanie Hartung (a DUI attorney in my office) had a success rating of well over 90% - meaning 90% of her DUI cases were reduced from DUI to a lesser offense. In truth, plea bargains during this period were not entirely the result of the BAC results being suppressed. Sometimes these plea bargains or Jury Trial victories are the result of ill-prepared prosecuting attorneys in King County. Why this is never reported is beyond me, but a great many prosecuting attorneys in King County District Courts have not yet even graduated law school. This seems like poor practice if the Proseuctor's office is promoting a strong stance against DUI drivers, yet fight the cause with law students who have no experience. Another story for another day. But to summarize, Mr. Satterberg's suggestion that 10% of all DUIs were amended due to the BAC issues is completely wrong - but of course, Mr. Satterberg is never in court so how would he know!?
For information on your Washington State DUI please contact our Snohomish County DUI attorneys, Whatcom County DUI attorneys, King County DUI attorneys, Island County DUI attorneys, or Skagit County DUI attorneys at 425-493-1115 or check out our website at http://www.washdui.com
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