UPDATE, Marchc 24, 2009: First-offense drunken-driving charge may be changed to eighth-offense felony
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How does a man with seven drunken driving convictions get issued a first-offense citation?
That's an enormous screw-up.
From Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
A 37-year-old Milwaukee man who already had seven drunken driving convictions was mistakenly issued a first-offense citation for operating while intoxicated after he was arrested by Mequon police in October, according to court records and Mequon's city attorney.
The mistake was uncovered after the man, Andrew Robinson, was arrested by Milwaukee police Sunday - his birthday - on suspicion of his ninth OWI. Officers found Robinson stopped at a yield sign about 10:30 p.m., even though there was no traffic at the intersection, said Anne E. Schwartz, spokeswoman for the Milwaukee Police Department.
Robinson failed a field sobriety test, police said. He was arrested on charges of operating while intoxicated, operating after revocation and refusal to submit to a chemical test, police said.
Robinson was being held Monday night at the Milwaukee County Jail. He is due in intake court Tuesday morning, according to jail records.
Robinson was arrested Oct. 4 in Mequon and was eventually found guilty of first-offense OWI, even though he had seven previous drunken driving convictions dating to 1992 - one in Illinois, one in Wisconsin and five in North Carolina, according to Wisconsin Department of Transportation records.
"Wow," said John DeStefanis, Mequon's city attorney, as he reviewed Robinson's DOT record Monday. "I mean, I have to say I was not aware that he had all of these convictions."
DeStefanis, who prosecuted Robinson, said he does not check the number of times defendants have been convicted of OWI offenses because he prosecutes only first-offense drunken drivers.
Anyone who is charged with multiple OWI offenses is referred to the Ozaukee County district attorney's office, DeStefanis said.
"I rely on the arresting agency making a decision as to whether or not he's a first offender and acting accordingly," DeStefanis said. "I don't get them if they're not first-offenders."
DeStefanis said the arresting officer probably pulled up the driving record for the wrong Andrew Robinson or made a similar clerical error.
"I suspect this has got to be a garbage-in, garbage-out kind of thing, where the officer puts in the best information he has and comes out with something that's incomplete," DeStefanis said. "No officer, knowing this guy's record, is going to write him up as a first offender."
...Robinson was found guilty in the Mequon OWI case in January, according to court records. His driver's license was revoked for six months, and he was ordered to pay a $677 forfeiture in monthly installments of $25, court records show.
It was a major error to treat Robinson as a first-time offender. Huge.
Whatever the reason, the arresting officer pulling up the driving record of a different Andrew Robinson or making a clerical error, I don't find it all that disturbing.
It was a mistake and, not surprisingly, Robinson went along with it.
What bothers me is that Robinson already had SEVEN convictions.
This case is getting attention now because of the "first-offense citation" given to a man on suspicion of his ninth OWI.
That angle makes it newsworthy. But I don't think there should be outrage focused on that particular error alone. There should be outrage over the fact that Robinson racked up SEVEN convictions and still was out on the road behind the wheel putting the public at risk.
Unacceptable.
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