When people are charged with OWI, they always want the best deal possible. In many instances, I can work out a deal to reckless driving, but the penalties for reckless driving are pretty substantial, including a 90 day hard suspension. A hard suspension means that there are no restricted driving privileges. Basically, no driving at all for three months. Reckless driving is also a 6 point misdemeanor offense, and judges will normally treat a plea to reckless in the same manner as they would a drunk driving conviction, i.e. probation, alcohol counseling, etc.
Careless driving is a civil infraction. A judge cannot put a person on probation for a civil infraction because it is a non-jailable offense. Let me crystal-clear: EVERYONE WANTS AN OWI CHARGE TAKEN DOWN TO CARELESS DRIVING. Getting a drunk driving charge down to careless is very rare, and it normally means that the prosecutor has lost the case.
In any event, in this case, police stopped my client, AC, claiming that he was weaving. He performed field sobriety tests fairly well according to the police report, but the officer arrested him because he admitted to drinking several drinks throughout the night. The PBT and DataMaster revealed a blood alcohol level of .09, which is only slightly above the .08 legal standard for OWI.
I filed a massive discovery demand and moved to have access to patrol car and breath testing room videos. The prosecuting attorney stipulated to production of these materials, but police repeatedly ignored my demands. This doesn't happen very often, but police departments make mistakes. Normally, this particular police department quickly provides access to all of the materials that I seek in an OWI case.
The prosecutor and I selected a jury, and the jurors were instructed to return in a few weeks for the actual trial. During the weeks between the selection process and the trial, the prosecuting attorney and I discussed the videos on numerous occasions. The police finally reported back to the prosecutor that they had erased the videos that I had requested. The prosecutor offered a plea to careless driving, which the client accepted.
This is a text book example of how to get a drunk driving charge taken down to careless driving. No one could have predicted that the police would ignore repeated demands for the videos, and the client and I went to court well over a dozen times. We picked a jury, and we were ready for trial. It is only under these circumstances that a typical prosecutor will entertain the idea of a careless driving.