PROSECUTORS FACE DUI CHALLENGES


Securing a DUI conviction in a jury trial in Wyoming is not easy, some prosecutors say.

They say it can be difficult to prove that a defendant had a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or above at the time he was driving.

Portable breath tests are not admissible at a trial to establish blood-alcohol concentration, and Wyoming�s "implied consent" law is the exclusive means by which evidence of alcohol concentration can be admitted at trial, said Steve Weichman, Teton County attorney.

If a person refuses to take a test under the law, prosecutors often have scant evidence to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the person was impaired, said Keith Gingery, a deputy county and prosecuting attorney in Teton County.

Weichman also said blood-alcohol evidence is frequently suppressed at trial based on minor technicalities that must be followed under state law. He said that can result in acquittals.

In order to introduce blood-alcohol evidence, prosecutors must follow the state Department of Health�s rules and regulations under the implied consent statute.

�There is one way to get alcohol concentration evidence admitted in a DUI trial. That�s when you do everything perfectly,� Weichman said. �There are 1,000 ways for it not to be admitted. You make one little mistake...�

�We�ve created rights that were not in the Constitution,� the longtime prosecutor said. �We�ve created rights that allow the impaired driver to say, 'Bite a rock. I�m not taking a stinking test.'"

...Bite a rock? I dunno, anyone who offers that as a suggestion, I'll probably think they're drunk. Who needs the breath test?

I grew up in Wyoming and it is just alittle different up there.

On my last trip home they were debating if it was a good idea to outlaw open containers in pick-up trucks. The majority of people were outraged the government wated to prevent them from drinking a beer or two on the long road between towns.

3/7/05-A bill that would have toughened the state�s open container law has died.
The House voted on March 1 to reject a revised version of the bill. The session ended March 3 without another effort to pass the stricter law.
The compromise bill included Senate language that would have allowed alcohol in recreational vehicles. The House wanted to ban alcohol from RVs.
SF8 sought to ban consumption and possession of open containers of alcohol in vehicles traveling public roadways in the state.
Under Wyoming law, drivers are barred from having an open container of alcohol, but passengers 21 years of age or older are not.