Wisconsin DUI

Wisconsin Ranked Number 1 in Drunk Driving Rate

Number of drivers driving drunk almost 1 in 4

Tags: Wisconsin DUI |  driving under the influence |  drunk driving

Wisconsin Drunk Driver Calls 911 to Report Herself

WIS DUI charged after dispatcher instructs motorist to pull over.

A 911 dispatcher in Neilsville, Wisconsin received a phone call from a woman reporting a drunk driver. When asked if she was following the suspected impaired driver, the woman replied "I am them".

Mary Strey, 49, admitted being drunk after "drinking all night long" and was concerned about hurting someone. The dispatcher instructed her to pull over and turn on her emergency flashers. Clark County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Jim Backus said Strey was found about three miles northeast of Neilsville, in central Wisconson. Her phone call, and the fact that she had a blood alcohol content twice the legal limit, lead to charges of driving under the influence in Wisconsin.

Chief Deputy Backus said DUI self-reporting is rare.

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Wisconsin DUI Penalties

The following are penalties DUI Offenders have received in the Milwaukee area:

Sheboygan Wisconsin - North of Milwaukee

Operating while intoxicated

The following people were fined, had their driver's license suspended or revoked, were ordered to undergo an alcohol and other drug assessment and, in some cases, were sentenced to jail for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated:

second offense, five days jail, $888, 12-month license revocation.

third offense, 75 days jail, $3,479, 28-month license revocation.

third offense, 30 days jail, 24-month license revocation, $1,221.

second offense, five days jail, 12-month license revocation, $906.

first offense, $730, seven-month license revocation.

first offense, $175, six-month license revocation.

local jail, forfeiture, fine $957, license revoked, ignition interlock, alcohol assessment.

local jail, forfeiture, fine $957, license revoked, alcohol assessment.

license forfeiture, fine $730, license revoked, alcohol assessment.

local jail, license forfeiture, fine $894, license revoked, alcohol assessment.

local jail, license forfeiture, fine $1078, non-probation conditions, license revoked, alcohol assessment.

probation sentence withheld, $3491, license revoked.

license forfeiture, fine $730, license revoked, alcohol assessment.

license forfeiture, fine $730, license revoked.

local jail, license forfeiture, fine $3491, license revoked, ignition interlock, alcohol assessment.

license forfeiture, fine $856, license revoked, alcohol assessment.

local jail, forfeiture, fine $953, license revoked, ignition interlock, alcohol assessment.

license forfeiture, fine $722, license revoked, alcohol assessment.

local jail, license forfeiture, fine $3491, license revoked, ignition interlock, alcohol assessment.

license forfeiture, fine $730, license revoked, alcohol assessment.

state prison, $1825, extended supervision.

license forfeiture, fine $667, license revoked, alcohol assessment.

local jail, license forfeiture, fine $1083, license revoked, alcohol assessment.

Source:
Local newspapers in the Milwaukee area

Tags: DUI Penalties & Fines |  Wisconsin DUI

Wisconsin Drunk Driver Rights

Traffic Stop Violated Rights of Drunken Driver, Court Rules
RYAN J. FOLEY Associated Press MADISON, Wisconsin

A police officer violated the constitutional rights of a repeated drunken driver when he pulled him over for drifting in his lane, a state appeals court ruled Thursday.

The ruling may spare 12 months in jail for Robert E. Post, 42, of Poynette, who had pleaded no contest to a fifth offense of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

A Sauk Prairie police officer committed an unreasonable search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment when stopping Post in February 2004, the District 4 Court of Appeals ruled.

Post's blood alcohol content was recorded at .212, nearly three times the legal limit, and he was charged with a fifth offense of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Post, 42, should never have been pulled over even though he had drifted "from the right part of his lane toward the left side of his lane and back several times," the court said. Post stayed in his lane and did not speed, drive erratically or commit any other traffic violations, the appeals court noted.

"Based on the officer's testimony, we conclude that the police did not have a reasonable suspicion that Post was violating the law that would justify a traffic stop," the court said. "Post's slight deviations within one lane of travel, with nothing more, does not, in our view, reach that quantum of evidence necessary to make the officer's hunch that Post might be intoxicated reasonable under the Fourth Amendment."

Post had pleaded no contest to the charge last year and was sentenced to one year in jail. However, the sentence was stayed pending the outcome of his appeal.

Post's lawyer, T. Christopher Kelly, said the decision means the police cannot use any evidence gathered during the traffic stop against his client. He said he believed prosecutors would likely be forced to drop the charges.

"All this decision says is you can't pull somebody over for normal driving. You've got to see bad driving," he said. "I think it was an easy call because we don't want the police pulling people over without having a good reason."

Kevin Calkins, a Sauk County prosecutor who handled the case, did not immediately return a phone message.

Source: http://www.duluthsuperior.com

Tags: DUI News |  Wisconsin DUI

Wisconsin Moves to Make First DUI a Crime

Wisconsin Moves to Make First DUI Arrest a Crime

Wisconsin state legislators are attempting to strengthen drunken driving penalties by making a first DUI arrest a criminal act. Currently such a DUI arrest is an ordinance violation, making Wisconsin the only state in the country where a first DUI is not a crime.

The legislation will also permit law enforcement agencies to set-up sobriety checkpoints, which are currently deployed in 39 states.

Vehicular accidents involving alcohol are responsible for hundreds of deaths in the state. Proponents of the bill say it will "give law enforcement officers the tools they need to combat that."

Opponents think the focus should be on repeat DUI offenders, and they find the sobriety checkpoints a presumption of guilt and a misuse of police resources.

Drinking and driving is a serious issue though somewhat of a lifestyle for citizens of the state. The roadways feature many roadside taverns and the Wisconsin Tavern League is a powerful lobby organization that influences state politics.

Tags: DUI |  DUI arrest |  drinking and driving