Plea Bargain Deals In Dwi Cases

According to Simon Kubiak, an Albuquerque-based DWI attorney in practice at Kubiak & Kubiak, taking a plea bargain is an option in almost any type of criminal case, including offenses involving DWI, or driving while intoxicated.

What is a plea bargain?
Usually, the state will offer defendants plea bargain deals in DWI cases, and it is the defendants choice whether to accept the offer. In its simplest form, a plea bargain is an agreement between a state and a defendant, where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a crime that he or she is being charged with. In other cases, the defendant may plead no contest to a lesser included offense.

If the state does not approach the defendant about a plea bargain, then the defendants lawyer also has the option to approach the state to strike a deal. In exchange for pleading guilty or no contest, the state will agree to dismiss other charges or reduce the sentence that the defendant is set to receive if found guilty.

What are other options?
If a defendant does not accept a plea bargain and the state cannot get its case in order, then the case will get what is called nolle prosequi, which means that the state has given up on prosecuting the case and the defendant is essentially off the hook.

In addition, there is something called an Alford plea, where the defendant does not admit guilt but still accepts the plea because the deal is too good to pass up. Someone might take an Alford plea if he is being charged in a second degree criminal sexual penetration case, for example, where he could be facing up to nine years in prison, plus the sex offender label for the rest of his life. So if the DA comes up and says just plea to child abuse and we will give you a conditional discharge, and then as long as you stay out of trouble for 18 months well dismiss the case, then you would be crazy not to take that deal.

The main benefit to an Alford plea is that the defendant does not have to plead guilty to the charge in order to take the plea deal. This is a good option for anyone who is strongly opposed to taking the risk of a negative outcome in his case, especially when being found guilty could result in years of prison time.

What is involved in DWI cases in New Mexico?
As a premiere DWI lawyer with years of experience, I do not always advise my clients to take the plea bargain deal in DWI cases because of some intricacies in New Mexico law that do not necessarily apply to everyone living in other states. First offenders in New Mexico who go to trial and lose in a DWI case usually do not end up having to suffer any harsher penalties than those who plead guilty and accept deals with prosecutors. People who have been found guilty of prior DWI crimes should obviously be prepared to suffer harsher penalties if they are found guilty in their cases. But just as long as its your first offense, there is usually no difference than if you were simply to make a plea.

However, most of the people I see still decide to take the plea deal, despite the downside, out of fear of what could happen if the case were to go to trial. In New Mexico, even people with a first offense will usually take a plea. Roughly 80% of the criminal cases in New Mexico end up with plea bargains rather than going to trial. As for the remaining 20% of cases, a good percentage will get dismissed before they go to trial, and a small percentage of defendants will eventually make their way into the courtroom for trial. About 2% or 3% of all criminal cases actually go to trial.

On the other hand, the only downside to agreeing to a plea bargain is if you are agreeing to it for the wrong reasons. In addition, defendants who accept plea bargains must understand that they are agreeing to give up their constitutional rights to go to trial, along with their rights not to testify against themselves. In a DWI case in Albuquerque, a lawyer might not necessarily think that the benefits to a plea bargain outweigh the drawbacks, which is why not all attorneys advise their clients to take these types of deals.

This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.