judges for felony DUI crashes to get a blood draw. Why must face to face practices continue when everyone would benefit from a more convenient solution using technology. There are certainly many parts of the country that are using software where the officer can enter the needed information from their vehicle where a magistrate can then review and sign it from their home. In national articles and webinars, we often hear of these practices but rarely hear of this in our state. It may be happening more during COVID-19 restrictions, but we have not been able to confirm it. Either way, it should be standard practice. In addition, some states use this approach to obtain search warrants even for misdemeanor DUI arrests when the person refuses. That is certainly a “tough on DUI” approach that appeals to us because every instance of impaired driving is serious. Whether by legislation or solid case law, South Carolina needs to look into this practice and how it may be compatible with our existing implied consent statute.
Focus Area #5: Aggressive Prosecution of DUIs with Adequate Resources
Prosecuting a DUI is quite difficult in South Carolina. We understand that in each case, the prosecutor typically has the best overall perspective on what is the best way to handle that case given the quality of the investigation and their experience with the local judges and juries. However, we cannot look at the overall rate of pleas to lesser charges and feel satisfied. Every prosecution agency should reexamine the aggressiveness with which they pursue convictions and recognize that on a community- level scale a low conviction rate endangers public safety as offenders are facing lesser penalties and perhaps avoiding important sanctions like Ignition Interlock Devices. Agencies could consider internal review procedures that require a close look at each case with a reckless driving plea and determine whether that case could have been won. It may even be a better overall result to lose more cases completely if it also means getting more DUI convictions over reckless driving pleas. However, part of ensuring aggressive prosecution also is ensuring that there are sufficient resources dedicated to DUI prosecution, whether that is achieved by shifting existing resources to that area or convincing others externally that more resources are needed for the office. One implication of this would be reducing the frequency that officers in South Carolina are prosecuting their own DUI arrests without the assistance of a legally trained prosecutor. This practice largely does not happen outside of South Carolina. In discussing this issue with our key experts and key traffic safety partners, the consensus is largely that having officers prosecute their own DUI cases should be greatly reduced or eliminated because 1) their time is better spent doing what they were hired to do—enforcing the law, 2) they do not have the training lawyers do, and 3) they will often be “mismatched” going against a trained DUI defense attorney. Our data show officers got a DUI conviction in only 13% of cases when facing a defense attorney compared to 43% for when a prosecutor faced a defense attorney. Even an officer who
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