Editorial: Court tosses aside law’s misapplication

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2000 | 9:21 a.m.

The Nevada Supreme Court rendered a wise decision last week when it rejected a tactic used by a Las Vegas attorney that allowed some DUI defendants to escape with lighter punishments. Attorney John Watkins had argued that it was redundant under the law for his clients to be simultaneously charged with drunken driving and other offenses, such as speeding. Watkins had persuaded some judges to accept his clients' guilty pleas to lesser crimes and dismiss the drunken driving allegations as being duplicative.

Fortunately, though, the Supreme Court stepped in and ruled that drunken driving charges are not redundant. As the district attorney's office had argued, if an assailant robbed an individual and then later killed the victim, the suspect certainly could be convicted of each crime. The Supreme Court's decision should bring reason back to the prosecution of drunken driving cases.

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