DUI reform spurs queries

COLUMBIA -- Arrests across South Carolina for driving under the influence are way up and road fatalities are way down, but there's disagreement as to why.

Spartanburg Solicitor Trey Gowdy said he believes the drop in highway deaths shows the latest reforms to the state's DUI laws are working.

"I would say it's a success," he said.

Others point to increased DUI arrests and an increase in seat belt use by South Carolina drivers as the cause of the reduced deaths.

Joe McCulloch, a Columbia defense lawyer who has handled DUI cases for 30 years, said the new law has simply been a fundraising tool for state government at the expense of the rights of those who might have been drinking but aren't legally "under the influence."

McCulloch said increased DUI arrests are the result of more troopers being hired and a policy of saturation arrests now being used nationwide.

"Essentially, throw that net out, catch as many fish as you can," he said officers and troopers are told. "Even if you catch some who are innocent, it will all get sorted out at the jury.

"Officers are being told they need to err on the side of caution and not on the side of the presumption of innocence - and that's problematic," McCulloch said.

Mark Keel, director of the state Department of Public Safety that oversees the Highway Patrol, said every trooper must meet probable cause before an arrest.

However, he said it is true that law enforcement agencies are working with local law enforcement officers using saturation arrests.

"It is part of the deterrent strategy," Keel said.

Arrests soar

DUI arrests by troopers are up by almost 20 percent since the new law went into effect in February 2009.

DUI arrests since 2008 have increased by more than 4,000, or 32 percent, according to Public Safety records.

Keel said local law enforcement agencies also report significant increases.

In fact, he said, the law enforcement network that works with the Highway Patrol has already reached the DUI arrest numbers for all of last year.

That comes as road fatalities have dropped sharply.

As of last week, there were 89 fewer crashes and 99 fewer people killed in road accidents year to date compared with the same period last year.

Deaths are also down significantly during the 100 Deadly Days of Summer, a time period during which law enforcement officials say a large number of people die in road accidents.

Keel calls the summer fatality drop, which was 87 as of Aug. 15, "phenomenal."

In Greenville County, alcohol-related fatalities have dropped from 42 for the period of February 2008 to January 2009 to 26 from February 2009 to January of this year, Sheriff Steve Loftis said.

DUI arrests during that same period have increased from 421 to 445, he said. There have been eight alcohol-related deaths since February and 323 arrests, he said.

New law

The new law was generally aimed at providing stiffer sentences for repeat offenders and those with high blood-alcohol levels.

People can avoid jail on the first offense but do have to serve time for the second conviction and every one thereafter.

They are also required to seek treatment.

The new law increases suspension periods from 90 to 180 days to six to 15 months, depending on how many previous offenses the driver has. Drivers are still able to appeal their suspensions to the Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings and, if successful, continue to drive while awaiting trial.

Greenville defense lawyer Steve Sumner, a former prosecutor who concentrates on DUI cases, said he believes the new law has had a deterrent effect because of the increased penalties.

However, he said increased media attention on DUI and more DUI arrests are also deterring drivers.

Laura Hudson, who leads public policy for the state office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said she believes the increased arrests are the cause of decrease in alcohol-related crashes.

"It's been my experience that the more enforcement we have and the more perception there is that 'I am going to get caught,' the less DUI fatalities we have," she said.

Defense lawyer McCulloch said that most of those caught driving after drinking alcohol don't repeat their actions, no matter what version of the law is in effect.

He said law enforcement officers are being told they can't dismiss their cases once the arrest is made, sending more questionable cases through the system.

"We frequently see cases where people admit that they have been drinking but then they pass two out of three field exercises," McCulloch said.

He said he had just watched a case in which a person was given a horizontal gaze test, a test he said police contend is 80 percent accurate in detecting alcohol.

The officer testified that the driver passed, McCulloch said, but he still arrested him.

He believes such arrests are part of a strategy of scaring drivers by arresting those who may have consumed alcohol, even if initial evidence doesn't point to driving under the influence.

"While that might be a good psychological ploy to try and deter people from drinking and driving at all, it's not really fair to the people who have the right to drink and drive because that is the law," he said.

"They just don't have the right to drink too much."

Court results

Court records aren't yet clear on the impact of the new law.

For the June 2008 to July 2009 year, the most recent available, conviction rates for first-time offenders of both driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 are down from the previous year.

For the charge of DUI, the conviction rate, which includes guilty pleas and trials, went from 53.2 percent to 38 percent.

For first offenders of the .08 law, the conviction rate dropped from 91 percent to 46 percent. The conviction rate percentage increased for subsequent offenses of DUI, records show.

Keel said a frequent complaint from troopers is that DUI cases are continued so much, sometimes for years.

"I don't have the answer to that question because there are thousands of DUI cases that are backlogged," Keel said.

"But I tell them, 'What I would tell you to do is continue to get that drunk driver off the road, because one thing for sure is he doesn't kill himself or he doesn't kill somebody else that night. We have to worry about the court later.'"

Keel said while the state has hired troopers, their overall numbers are still about 150 fewer than the numbers in 2008.

He said he and the highway patrol's colonel adopted a strategy in January 2009 of reducing fatalities by focusing enforcement on seat belts, speeding and DUIs.

The state's seat belt use percentage went above the national average this year for the first time.

In December, Keel said, the patrol formed a DUI team of 31 troopers that has since made 2,500 DUI arrests.

It's not known yet what this year's alcohol-related accident figures are, he said, and it may be too early to gauge the impact of the new DUI law.

However, he said he believes the state won't keep its No. 1 ranking in alcohol-related road deaths from 2008.

"We think we'll see a decline this year," Keel said.