The D.C. Attorney General’s Office is planning to revive the dozens of drunken driving cases it has dropped in recent weeks as the city’s troubled alcohol breath-test program continues to fail.
D.C. Attorney General Irvin Nathan has still not called The Washington Examiner back regarding his decision to drop the cases. Instead, he had his Senior Counsel Ariel Waldman make the call.
“We will refile the cases as [driving under the influence] charges and not [driving while intoxicated] charges,” Waldman said. “DWI and DUI carry the same charge… one requires the breath or other physical evidence, the other does not.”
Defense attorney Bryan Brown said it’s true they carry the same sentences, but if the attorney general’s office doesn’t move quickly, it will soon face speedy trial issues on some of the dropped cases.
