By KRWG News
New Mexico – The latest report from a project analyzing how New Mexico courts handle DWI cases has found some defendants were pleading to reduced charges, sentences were deferred, and cases were dismissed because officers didn't show up for court.
The report also identified more cases in which district judges weren't complying with parts of mandatory sentencing requirements such as ordering ignition interlocks, DWI school, fines, community service, screening and treatment.
New Mexico's DWI czar Rachel O'Connor released the state's fourth DWI court monitoring report on Friday. It was the first to include drunken driving cases at the district court level and found those courts had issues similar to lower courts.
The report covers six counties considered the deadliest for DWI fatalities Bernalillo, Dona Ana, McKinley, Rio Arriba, San Juan and Santa Fe.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.