Legal experts disagree on new DWI rule's impact

A new law requiring alcohol monitoring devices for first-time driving while intoxicated offenders could lead more of them to go to trial, rather than accepting plea bargains, said Bill Kephart, president of the Criminal Courts Bar Association of Nassau County.

"It's a very costly thing," he said of the required devices, called ignition interlocks. "The embarrassment is going to be tough for the first-time offender."

The Nassau County district attorney's office confirmed it is preparing for the possibility of more trials, but Maureen McCormick, who heads the district attorney's vehicular crimes bureau, said that the higher costs associated with going to trial would likely dissuade many alleged offenders.

"There's a real cost-benefit analysis," she said. "I'm sure if you're a defendant you've got to be looking at that."

Kephart, who practices in Garden City, said that although it's hoped that the law will deter offenses, he thought the new rule unfairly targets first-time offenders, who he said are not likely to repeat the crime.

"The type of people who are going to fall into this category don't seem like the highest priority," he said.

A statement released by the Suffolk County district attorney's office pointed to studies in states with similar laws showing a 50 to 90 percent reduction in subsequent offenses by DWI offenders.

"We are hopeful for similar results," the statement said.

McCormick said the national rate of recidivism is roughly 30 percent and that the goal of the new program is to force offenders to take extra steps to ensure they don't drive while drunk.

"The point of interlocks is not just to stop people from being arrested, it's to change behaviors," she said.Marc Gann, president of the Nassau County Bar Association, said he worries about what will become of the records generated by the alcohol device, which keeps track of instances when offenders fail the device's Breathalyzer test even if they don't drive afterward.