Go Hard or Go Home? Assessing the Role of Solvency in DUI Dispositions

• In Event: Poster Session II

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to determine whether DUI defendants represented by private counsel receive more favorable dispositions than defendants who are represented by the Office of the Public Defender. As logic would dictate, indigent defendants serve lengthier periods of pretrial detention than defendants with sufficient resources to post bond. With their liberty at stake, it is reasonable to infer that indigent defendants will be more likely to enter an early plea to a DUI charge regardless of the merits of their case. Solvent defendants, however, may have the financial means to compensate private counsel for lengthier, more in-depth case investigation and preparation, leaving them better-postured to fight their DUI charge. A successful challenge to a DUI charge may result in a reduction of charge to Reckless Driving or civil infraction, or even dismissal. The data in this case will be collected from a random sampling of misdemeanor DUI cases processed in Pinellas County, Florida, in the 2016 calendar year. Utilizing variables extracted from case history and disposition records made public by the Pinellas Clerk of Court, this research will attempt to test the hypothesis that indigent defendants receive less favorable DUI dispositions than their solvent counterparts.

Author

• Tracey L. Sticco, University of South Florida