How Do Prosecutors in Fairfax County Decide to Reduce A DWI to Reckless Driving
For obvious reasons, many people charged with DWI in Fairfax County are interested in having their charge reduced to a “wet reckless”. A wet reckless is a term for a DWI that gets reduced to Reckless Driving with required Alcohol awareness classes. A wet reckless is not technically a punishment, but rather a slang term to describe a resolution of a case. Typically judges don’t think they have the authority to reduce a DWI charge to a Reckless Driving. They are probably right. It is the role of the Prosecutor’s office to determine how people should be charged. Judges are more responsible for determining guilt or innocence. So judges usually think it is there job just to figure out if you are guilty or not guilty of a DWI, not to determine if the charge should be reduced.
So with the understanding that the decision on whether or not to reduce the charge is up to the Prosecutor it is important to figure out how they make those decisions.
In most cases, the Prosecutor will not be inclined to reduce the charge simply because you are a good person. For whatever reason, be it political pressure from MADD or other organizations, simply being a decent upstanding otherwise law abiding citizen usually isn’t enough to get a charge reduced. Additionally, Prosecutors will usually have to answer to upper management for reductions and many have strict orders to not give reductions based simply on the driver being a good person. In some jurisdictions (Alexandria and Prince William) Prosecutors are specifically ordered to not give reductions for personal reasons. Being a good person won’t necessarily get you better treatment, however being a bad person will almost certainly make it impossible. So anyone with a high BAC, or who was involved in an accident, or who has a previous history is unlikely to get a wet reckless even under favorable circumstances.
Prosecutors will usually only offer a reduction to a wet reckless if there is some compelling legal reason to do so. If the Prosecutor believes there is a chance that they may lose the case at trial they will be more likely to try to resolve the case. The usual problems that would encourage a reduction are an obvious problem with the case, which means that in some way the officer did something wrong. Whether it was an illegal stop or some other problem with the procedure, finding an error in the investigation of the case is the best way to leverage a reduction in the charge.
In any system run by human beings the Prosecutor involved will make a big difference in whether a reckless driving plea deal is offered. To that extent, hiring a lawyer familiar with the different personalities of the Prosecutor and Judge involved will have a large impact on being able to favorably navigate the system and hopefully get an excellent outcome.
