Less than an hour and a half after being stopped and charged with DWI on New Year’s Day, a Poughkeepsie woman was stopped a second time for the same offense. After the second contact, police took the woman into custody on additional DWI charges. A female passenger in her car was also taken into custody and charged with resisting arrest and related offenses. Both women were detained in the Ulster County Jail in lieu of bail. Police say the first incident happened shortly after 3 a.m. on Jan. 1 when they spotted the 20-year-old woman driving the wrong direction on southbound U.S. Highway 9 West. The woman was charged with misdemeanor drunk driving and related traffic offenses after she was found to have a blood alcohol content of more than 0.08 percent. Police released the woman into the custody of a responsible third party following the first stop.
Less than two hours later, the same woman was observed driving a different vehicle on the same highway and failing to stay in her lane, according to police. This time, the woman was taken into custody and charged with additional DWI offenses. Her 21-year-old passenger was charged with obstructing governmental administration, disorderly conduct and harassment after she reportedly swung at a police officer, in addition to resisting arrest.
Persons charged with repeat driving while intoxicated offenses are exposed to potential criminal penalties, which could include a period of incarceration. In determining the appropriate sentence for the specific charges, courts consider a number of factors, including the documents in the record and the defendant’s criminal history.
Those accused of drunk driving may need to take steps to ensure that the court’s record accurately reflects the facts of the DWI events. A DWI defense attorney might be able to present mitigating evidence to the court and negotiate for a plea bargain on the least punitive charges available under the law.
Source: The Record, “Woman gets arrested for DWI, released, arrested for DWI again“, Diane Pineiro-Zucker, January 02, 2014
