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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Ruling May Pop Cork On Some Dwi Sentences First Offenders Under Recent Version Of Law Could Get Second Day In Court

A lot of tipsy drivers may have got a break from a Spokane judge this week who recommends the dismissal of potentially dozens of DWI charges in the county.

Superior Court Judge Robert Austin concluded that a portion of the state’s stiff law on drunken driving is unconstitutional.

In his 22-page decision released Friday, he called a recent version of the complicated law unfair to first-time offenders whose blood-alcohol level registers at 0.15 percent and lower. A level of 0.10 is sufficient for an arrest.

Austin stated that prosecutors were given too much leeway to pick the crime and punishment for the same offense, violating a person’s right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment.

The decision is expected to flood the prosecutor’s office with cases that were put on hold pending Austin’s ruling. A legal challenge by 305 Spokane County drivers charged with drunken driving during the past 18 months led to the review.

The ruling only affects people charged with DWI between July 1994 and September 1995. The state law has been changed since the legal challenge began.

It’s unclear how many of the cases will be dismissed as a result of the ruling, but officials in the public defender’s office speculated that it will likely be a minority of the cases.

Jay Ames, deputy public defender, said Austin’s ruling reflects the fact that the state’s 1994 legislation gave prosecutors too many options.

“It gave them unbridled discretion to choose their poison,” said Ames, who argued a portion of the case in Austin’s court.

As the state’s crusade to crack down on drunken drivers intensifies, the law gets more and more complicated, Ames said.

“We need two cheat sheets for two different versions of the law in the past year,” he said.

Austin said the severity of the state law was appropriate for repeat offenders and drivers registering above 0.15 on the blood-alcohol chart.

Spokane County Prosecutor Jim Sweetser said he had just received Austin’s ruling late Friday and hadn’t studied it yet.

Sweetser declined comment on Austin’s decision other than to say that his office soon may be so swamped with DWI cases that he will have to hire private attorneys to help with the caseload.

He also said Austin’s decision may be appealed.

“Until I read the whole decision, I certainly respect Judge Austin’s opinion,” Sweetser said.

Efforts to reach Austin were unsuccessful.

, DataTimes